The Start of Something New
by alohamora080
Summary: James Potter and Lily Evans's seventh year marked the start of something new.
1. The New Head Boy

Author's Note: Here's my first Fanfic on my favorite couple ever—Lily Evans and James Potter! I know that this idea—James and Lily's seventh year—has been tested a million times, and through multifarious methods, but I could resist. They're my favorite Harry Potter couple. Reviews are much appreciated.

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

September 1, 1977

She couldn't believe it was her last year of Hogwarts. It seemed like just yesterday that she was sitting in the woods by her house with Severus, talking all about the magnificence of magic. Lily wrinkled her nose at the thought of Severus. She really couldn't stand him anymore, him and his Death Eater pals; they made her sick.

Lily adjusted her Head Girl Badge proudly, feeling, not for the first time, extremely honored that the teachers had chosen her.

"Evans!" a sing-song voice called from behind her.

Lily groaned. Oh no, here came another person that made her sick.

"What do you want—," she stopped abruptly, eyes widening as she caught sight of a very familiar metal object pinned to his cloak.

Realization crashing upon her, she asked, "How did _you_ get _that_?"

"I'm Head Boy," James said cheerfully, not the least bit offended by her incredulous tone.

"Oh, ha ha, Potter, and I'm in love with you… I'm not," she added when he looked slightly hopeful. "Why don't you give that badge back to poor Remus now?" Lily said sardonically.

James stared blankly at her. "It's mine," he declared, now looking slightly affronted.

As if right on cue, Remus Lupin walked over to Lily and James, running a hand tiredly through his sandy hair. For a seventeen-year-old boy, he really did look quite old. Then again, he was the only voice of reason in the group that called themselves the 'Marauders.' Lily supposed being the only responsible one came with some baggage.

"Remus, why did you let James wear your Head Boy Badge?" Lily asked disapprovingly.

Remus stared impassively at James's badge. Then, his face split into a wide grin. "You're Head Boy!" he yelled, clapping James on the back happily. "I knew you could do it."

Lily felt weak at the knees. There was no sodding way—

"Jamesie, there's a rumor that you've become _Head Boy_, but I told those fools to bugger off and stop lying—," Sirius stopped short when he saw the badge pinned to James's shirt. "Prongs," Sirius whined, "I didn't know that stealing Moony's badge was part of today's agenda."

"Finally, someone is talking sense," Lily said, and then immediately backtracked when she realized that it was _Sirius Black_ she was siding with.

"Padfoot, seriously, I'm Head Boy."

Sirius erupted into a fit of girly giggles, stopping instantaneously when he caught James and Remus staring wearily at him. "You're serious."

"No, you are," James said with his familiar crooked smile, but when Sirius just stared expressionlessly at him, he sighed, "Yeah, I'm serious."

Sirius stared at him for a moment longer and then grabbed his shoulders and started shaking them violently, "James, James, Jamesie, Prongsie, what's happened to you? When did you transfer to the good side?" It took Remus all of his strength and more to keep Sirius from strangling James.

Sirius just stared helplessly at James for one more second before swiveling around and pointing an index finger dramatically at Lily. Gasping theatrically, he said, "What have you done to him?"

Before Lily could defend herself, James stepped forward. "Sirius, don't worry, I'm still Prongs. We'll still have fun. In fact, I heard that Heads get their own common room and dormitories. We could party all night long—,"

Lily was torn between wanting to tell James that under no condition was she allowing Sirius Black to "party all night long" in their common room and fainting on the spot. She had completely forgotten that the Heads got their own rooms. She gulped. "I have to share a common room with _you_?"

"Yep," James said with a cheesy smile. "It'll be wonderful, won't it?"

"Oh, yes," Lily said icily. "Simply spiffing."

"Oh, you know you love me," James said, throwing an arm around Lily's shoulders.

Lily just shook her head disbelievingly, shook off his hand and walked away. Only when she was quite a distance away did she realize something, something that almost made her gasp— James hadn't asked her out even once.


	2. Paranoid

Author's Note: Chapter two! I'm quite liking this fanfiction so far. Inspiration just keeps coming... let's hope I didn't jinx that.

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

September 1, 1977

James watched Lily's retreating figure dejectedly. Why couldn't she see the real him? Moony could, Sirius could, Peter could. Even Dumbledore could, obviously. Otherwise, he wouldn't be the Head Boy this year. Why didn't she realize that all the shenanigans, showing off were all his attempts to win her over?

"Prongs."

James looked up to see his three best friends staring at him sympathetically.

"She'll come around," Remus said, patting James on the back.

"Yeah," Sirius supplied. "I mean, now that you're _Head Boy_,"—he spat the words as if they were contaminated—"she'll have to spend a lot more time with you, won't she?"

James's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "She will…"

Still dazed from her newfound discovery, Lily walked distractedly through the train, trying to find a compartment while digesting this startling piece of information.

James Potter hadn't asked her out.

Not once.

Lily didn't know whether to be happy or sad. She had sort of become… _accustomed_ to the nonstop attempts. She had almost _enjoyed_ saying "No, Potter" every time she saw James open his mouth. This just made her feel even more pathetic.

Lily shook her head. "No, Lily," she muttered to herself, "you don't like Potter, remember?"

"Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness, you know," a sly voice said from behind her.

Lily spun around, knowing who it was even before she even saw them.

"MARY!" she shrieked. "You're back!"

"I'm back!" cried the tall, beautiful, blonde girl that was Mary MacDonald, one of Lily's closest friends.

"Merlin, it's so good to finally see you on the train again!" Lily said. Mary had been attacked by Mulciber, a Death Eater Slytherin the year previous and had had to take time off from school in St. Mungo's to recover. And she certainly had recovered. Her curly golden locks shone in the sunlight, framing her face beautifully and her bright blue eyes were surveying Lily curiously.

"So what were you talking to yourself about?" Mary wanted to know.

"Oh." Lily blushed; the whole thing seemed quite stupid now. "Nothing."

"You're a terrible liar, you know," Mary said, crossing her arms. "What happened?"

Sighing defeatedly, Lily said, "Potter."

"Oh," Mary said, comprehension dawning. "What did he do this time?"

"Well… nothing, but that's the thing. He hasn't done anything!" she said, flustered.

Mary opened her mouth confusedly, but Lily cut her off.

"You're right!" she said loudly, slapping a hand to her forehead; now it was so obvious. "He's probably coming up with some idiotic plan to sweep me off my feet. I should find him and put a stop to it."

And before Mary could say "I didn't even say anything," Lily was off, peeking through compartment after compartment, looking for James.

* * *

"OH, COME AND STIR MY CAULDRON, AND IF YOU DO IT RIGHT, I'LL BOIL YOU UP SOME HOT, STRONG LOVE TO KEEP YOU WARM TONIGHT!" Sirius sang completely off key, using a chocolate frog as a microphone.

James was wearing a pair of snug earmuffs that he'd dug through his trunk for the moment Sirius had declared that he was going to show off his singing skills.

Remus was banging his head on the window repeatedly, stopping every once in a while to throw James an envious look, as he himself had forgotten to pack his earmuffs.

Only Peter was watching Sirius adoringly, actually clapping every time Sirius paused. Remus and James stared at Peter incredulously.

Suddenly, the door to their compartment banged open and Lily appeared, red hair disheveled and green eyes glowing with anger. Sirius stopped mid-song and Peter stopped mid-applause. Remus looked up wearily, a bruise already beginning to form on his forehead. Only James didn't react as his eyes were closed and his earmuffs were still blocking out all sounds.

Lily marched over to James and yanked the earmuffs off of his head.

"What the—," He spotted Lily and grinned. "Come to have a snog?"

Remus smacked a hand to his already bruised forehead.

"JAMES CHARLUS POTTER!" Lily yelled so loudly that Sirius, Remus, and Peter all jumped.

James recoiled.

The door to the compartment opened for a second time and a little second year boy stepped timidly inside.

"Professor Slughorn told me to give these to you," the boy squeaked and fled from the compartment.

James and Sirius groaned, while Remus and Lily both perked up. It was time for the Slug Club.


	3. The Slug Club

Author's Note: Hi! Here's the third chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

September 1, 1977

"Is old Sluggy still doing this club thing, then?" Peter asked somewhat dolefully. He was the only Marauder who never got invited to these meetings. In fact, Slughorn never even remembered his name.

"You're not missing anything, Wormy… it's pretty pathetic," Sirius finished glumly. He knew that Slughorn only invited _him_ because of his family. Sirius _hated_ his family.

Lily quelled Sirius with a look. "It's not pathetic."

"What do you mean it's not pathetic?" James asked skeptically. "Of course it is. It's just Slughorn's excuse to hang out with the high society, popular, or smart children in Hogwarts."

"So what you're saying," Lily said in a disdainful voice, "is that Peter, one of your _best friends_, is not high society, popular, or smart?"

"Of that's not what I'm saying," James said calmly, glancing at Peter's crestfallen expression. "I'm saying that Pete's lucky he doesn't have to commit to these parties."

Lily couldn't think of a smart enough retort—when did _Potter_ become this sharp?—, so she rounded on Sirius.

"You!" she said, pointing a threatening finger at the cowering boy. "If I have to hear your pathetic Celestina Warbeck recitals all afternoon, I'll—I'll—I don't know what I'll do, but you won't like it."

"Sorry, Lily," Remus, the permanent peace-maker, said when he noticed Sirius open his mouth angrily. "He'll stop now."

Sirius turned to Remus to argue, but was met with one of Remus's exceptional death glares, and shrank back.

There was a long, uneasy silence. "So, er, should we go now, then?" James asked rather awkwardly.

Remus, Sirius, Lily, and James got to their feet, all trying hard to ignore the painfully uncomfortable silence that seemed to have fallen over them. After assuring Peter that they'd be back shortly, they headed to Compartment C, Slughorn's private compartment near the middle of the train.

Slughorn greeted the four seventh-years, especially Lily, with warm enthusiasm.

"Lily, my dear, it has been far too long! And how was your summer?" he asked heartily, patting Lily on the back.

"Excellent, thanks Professor. How about you?" she replied easily.

"Fine, fine," he said amiably. "I made sure you'd get that," he said with a wink, pointing to Lily's Head Girl badge.

"And Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, I see you're all doing fine," he said, ushering the three boys into his magically enlarged compartment.

"Anyway," he addressed the room at large, which was packed with many people from different years and houses. "I've called you all here today to celebrate your talents…"

James zoned out. Slughorn gave the same speech every single year. Something about commemorating your God-given gifts and making the most of what you have—James knew 'what you have' to be code for fame. He knew that Slughorn was fond of him because of his superior grades and extremely well-known family.

James glanced at Sirius. Slughorn didn't know that Sirius had been disowned by his _own_ famous family of Pure-blood fanatics. Sirius had taken refuge at James's house the summer previous. James saw Sirius's lips press into a thin line as Slughorn rambled on about family ethics.

James then turned his eyes to Lily, who was twirling her gorgeous, dark red hair between her fingers uninterestingly, but smiling with rapt attention every time Slughorn turned towards her.

James smirked. He had to admire her hypocrisy; after all, she was the one who'd said that the club was not pathetic.

James studied Lily even more intently. He'd been head over heels for her since the fourth year when he'd caught his first glimpse of her for two months. Something about the way she smiled made his heart stop. He knew it was tacky, but he couldn't help it. He was utterly and totally in love. Filled with a new determination to win her over this year, he looked away.

Lily curled her hair listlessly around her index finger. She knew Slughorn's speech by heart now, as he never lost an opportunity to give it to an unsuspecting student. She was sure that the rest of the room was as disinterested as her, except for perhaps Alan Clearwater, a muggle-born boy who spent every year kissing-up to his teachers.

Her mind wandered back to her sudden appearance in the Marauder's compartment. They'd all looked very taken aback, especially James, proving that they weren't planning anything to get her to go out with James. She felt a tinge of disappointment at this realization, though she had no idea why.

_What is _wrong _with you, Lily?_ she asked herself. _You don't _like_ Potter, remember? _she had to remind herself for the second time that day.

"…I wish you all the best of luck this year, and I hope to be seeing plenty of you at my parties this year," Slughorn finished with a flourish of his hand.

There was a thundering of applause, though more because everyone was glad it was over than because anyone had actually enjoyed it.

"Well, it was lovely seeing you all. Good-bye everyone. I expect you lot should be getting back to your compartments. Farewell! Farewell!" Slughorn accompanied the crowd of departing students to the door.

James glanced at Remus and Sirius and motioned to leave the room as the latter was still looking rather disgruntled from the speech.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, Ms. Evans," Slughorn called from behind. James turned around, groaning inwardly. Was he going to have to spend even more time in this compartment now? "I would like a word with you two for a moment, please," Slughorn said and went back into his compartment.


	4. Premonition

Author's Note: FOURTH CHAPTER! I'm planning on winding down _My Beautiful Children_ (one more chapter to go!), and focusing much on this story, as well as my Rose/Scorpius Fanfic, Family Feuds.

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

September 1, 1977

James exchanged a perplexed and somewhat weary look with Remus and Sirius before reentering the compartment, Lily in tow.

"Professor Dumbledore has asked me to have a word with both of you," Slughorn said, for once dropping his cheerful attitude and talking very solemnly.

"About what?" Lily asked rather nervously.

"Being a Head," he said, turning to face Lily and looking her straight in the eye.

"What about it?" James asked somewhat defiantly. He was half-expecting Slughorn to strip him of the title; he had been a troublemaker his entire time at Hogwarts, after all, and Slughorn knew it.

"I'm not going to take away your title," Slughorn said with a wry smile in James's direction. "But," he said gravely, addressing both of them, "if the need arises, it will happen."

Lily looked puzzled. "What kind of need?"

"Everyone in the entire school knows about the, er, _quarreling_ that goes on between the two of you," Slughorn said carefully.

The corner of James's mouth twitched, watching Lily go red at this statement.

"And unless the two of you can set aside your differences and work together, your statues as Head Boy and Head Girl will be… terminated.

"Every staff member in the school was nothing less than shocked when Dumbledore decided, finally, to make the pair of you Heads. Most teachers were completely against it."

Lily looked mutinous.

"Dumbledore is convinced that you two can work together if you attempt to have a civil conversation. Let's not prove him wrong, shall we?" Slughorn finished, glancing from Lily to James keenly.

James nodded eagerly, while Lily gave a sort of stiff nod which James translated as meaning 'this is far from being over.'

Slughorn, however, looked satisfied. "Now I'm going to leave you two here for the rest of the train ride, so that you can have your first go at working things out."

He said this all very quickly, so neither had a chance to intervene—not that James wanted to, of course—before they heard the click of a compartment door closing.

Lily gawked at the spot where the Potions master had vanished. "You're kidding me."

"Oh, Evans, why are you so against spending time with the one you love?" James declared theatrically.

Lily did an honest double take. "Love? _Love?_ James, I've been rejecting you for three years straight. Get a clue!"

"Just because you turn me down, doesn't mean you don't have feelings for me," James said with an impish wink.

"Yes it does!" Lily said impatiently. Why didn't the git understand? "Why else would I turn you down?"

"Because you're secretly in love with me, of course, but can't admit it to yourself for it would be like agreeing with me, which you can't have, can you? Don't worry Lily, you can tell me that you love me," James said, grabbing Lily's hand and speaking with extremely overdone emotion.

Lily swiftly jerked her hand out of James's grip and gaped at him as if he was under the influence of alcohol. _Which_, she thought to herself, _might be true_. Feeling the need to address this point she asked, "Have you been drinking from Sirius's secret stash of Firewhiskey?"

James grinned suddenly. "Hey, how do you know about Sirius's secret stash?"

Lily blanched. "I was joking!" she screeched. "I didn't think he actually had one!"

"Oh, Lily, there is nothing we Marauders don't have or haven't done," James said proudly.

Lily just shook her head. "I have got to get out of here." She got to her feet and tugged at the compartment door. It didn't budge. She tugged again. Absolutely nothing.

"Alohomora," she muttered, pointing her wand at the locked door. Still nothing happened.

"Need some help over there?" James asked cheekily.

_He knew_, Lily thought angrily. _He knew we were locked in._

"No, thanks," she replied indifferently, although inwardly fuming. "Unless, of course," she added in a sickeningly sweet voice, doing some quick thinking, and turning around to face James, "you know a way out of here, you amazing Marauder," she finished, batting her eyelashes and complimenting him for good measure.

"Oh, you flatter me," he said with a smirk, and from his pocket he extracted a cloak of fluid-like, silvery material.

"What's that?" Lily asked, raising an eyebrow, and feeling completely dubious as to how a silver cloak was going to get us out of this place.

"A legacy. A bequeathed item passed down generations… it's an invisibility cloak," he finished, spotting Lily's raised eyebrow.

"How is that going to help us?" she asked, fingering the cloak and torn between bewilderment and utter admiration.

"You'll see," he said simply. From in the folds of the cloak, he pulled out a small mirror. "Sirius Black," he said confidently into the mirror.


	5. Stuck In A Pocket

Author's Note: Chapter five today! Wow, this story is going well. Inspiration's still coming strong... I wonder how long that will last. Thanks for lovely reviews!

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

September 1, 1977

Remus and Sirius sat facing each other in their compartment, Peter snoring away contentedly in the corner of the compartment. Sirius, fortunately for the sanity of the passengers on the Hogwarts Express, had decided not to take up singing again. He really did not want to be on the other end of one of Remus's incensed looks for the second time that day.

"Where do you think Prongs and Lily are?" Remus asked, a crease appearing between his eyebrows as he looked up from _Hogwarts, A History_.

"Snogging," Sirius said minimally, flicking a piece of lint off of his jumper.

"Oh, yes, that makes absolute sense, considering she shoots him down every single time he opens his mouth," Remus said cynically, going back to his book.

Sirius stuck his tongue out childishly at Remus. Suddenly, he heard James's muffled voice. "Sirius Black."

"Did you hear that?" he addressed Lupin.

"Hear what?" Lupin asked unenthusiastically. He was used to Sirius's randomly perceived noises.

"James. He sounded like he was trapped somewhere," Sirius said.

Lupin put his book away, looking apprehensive. "Trapped? Where?"

"Shh, let's see if it comes again," Sirius whispered.

"Sirius Black. Can you hear me?" the barely audible voice came again.

"There!" Sirius said breathlessly. "It came again! I told you he sounded trapped!"

"He sounds trapped because his voice is coming from your jumper pocket," Remus said expressionlessly. There was a pause. "_Why_ is James being held hostage in your jumper pocket?"

Sirius gasped knowledgeably, and from his pocket he pulled out a mirror. "James? Prongs? Prongsie? Can you hear me? Are you alright?" he asked the mirror anxiously.

Remus got up and sat on Sirius's other side, deciding to take a look at this mirror before concluding that Sirius had completely lost it for talking to a looking glass. His eyes widened, when, instead of Sirius's face in the mirror, there came James's.

"I'm fine," mirror-James assured them. "I'm trapped in Slughorn's compartment with Lily—,"

"Prongsie, it's your dream come true!" Sirius cried blissfully. "Did you snog?"

"Snog, Black? _Snog?_" Lily's disgusted voice came from the mirror. "I'd rather snog the giant squid!"

"No you wouldn't," Remus shook his head violently. "I did that once because Padfoot dared me to. It was horrifying."

There was a pregnant pause.

"Well, you weren't kidding when you said that the Marauders have done everything," Lily said.

Mirror-James grinned. "Anyway," he said to Remus and Sirius, "I need you two to bust us out of here."

"Why?" Sirius asked in disbelief. "You're finally alone with Evans and you want us to bust you out—,"

"Just get us out," James interrupted, throwing an imploring look at Remus.

Remus sighed. "Padfoot and I'll come and break you out."

He grabbed Sirius by the scruff of his collared neck and hastily left the compartment before Sirius could begin asking mirror-James why he was foolish enough to want out of there when Lily was within snogging distance. He could quite imagine the appalled look on Lily's face if this remark was made.


	6. Escape From Compartment C

Author's Note: Chapter six! Hope you'll like! It might take me a couple days to upload the next chapter—the idea is still forming in my head. Thanks for reading this!

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

September 1, 1977

"Oh, my poor heart, where has it gone? It's left me for a spell," Sirius sang under his breath as he and Remus ambled through the narrow train corridor.

"Padfoot, what is your infatuation with Celestina Warbeck?" Remus snapped irately. "Be quiet and find Compartment C, already."

Suddenly, the two boys heard footsteps behind them and they whirled around, coming face-to-face with none other than Professor Slughorn himself.

"Hello, boys," he said mildly. "What are you two doing here?"

"Er… Remus—tell Professor Slughorn why you're here," Sirius said, pushing Remus slightly in front of him.

Remus glowered at Sirius. "I left my… book… in your compartment, so I was going back to find it," Remus improvised wildly.

"Oh, well then come along. I'll get it for you," Slughorn said pleasantly.

Remus and Sirius shared a fearful look.

"Oi, Prongs," Sirius whispered into his pocket.

"What is it?" James's voice asked. "Are you here yet?"

"No, we have encountered a _slight_ problem."

Lily's groaning emanated from Sirius's pocket. "What is it?"

"Sluggy's coming with us."

* * *

"Sluggy's coming with us."

"Are you _kidding_ me?" Lily shrieked, losing it completely. "When do your plans _ever_ work, Potter?"

James scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Well, there was that one time—,"

"Save it," Lily replied, putting a hand up. "Unless you have some way to make us invisible before Slughorn gets here, don't say a word."

James's eyes fell on the invisibility cloak in his hands. "Quick, get under here."

"This is some sort of joke—," she stopped talking immediately as James pulled her under the liquid cloak.

"Are you sure this makes us invisible?" Lily whispered.

"Positive," he muttered.

Lily held her breath as there was a click from in front of them and the compartment door opened, revealing Slughorn and two very terrified Marauders.

Lily watched as Remus and Sirius's eyes flickered across the room until they landed exactly where she and James were crouching under the cloak. Both gave barely detectable curt nods.

"Can they see us?" Lily questioned in a very low whisper.

"No, they can sense our presence. They've seen me disappear under this at least a million times."

"Where are Mr. Potter and Ms. Evans?" Slughorn wanted to know; _he_ was apparently completely unable to see the pair under the cloak. "I left them here to talk."

James could almost hear Remus's brain whirring as he attempted to come up with a logical explanation for their absense.

"But Professor," Remus said evenly, "James is in our compartment right now. You couldn't have left him here."

"You must have been hallucinating," Sirius said in a very convincingly grave voice, patting Slughorn's hand.

"No, no," Slughorn said, although Lily was sure he sounded a little uncertain now. "I left them here."

Remus made an almost unnoticeable beckoning movement in Lily and James's direction, clearly gesturing for them to exit the open compartment. They did so, lingering outside the compartment to see how Sirius and Remus could possibly get them out of this mess.

"But they're not here," Sirius stated the obvious. "And I'm sure I saw Lily down the hall."

"Could they have broken out?"

"Impossible," said Remus firmly.

"You don't honestly think that James and Lily could get past a security charm by an _incredibly_ skilled wizard like you, do you Professor?" Sirius said, sounding genuinely skeptical.

This did the trick. Slughorn smiled affectionately at Sirius. "Well, perhaps you're right. Maybe I imagined the entire thing."

Lily and James shared an incredulous glance outside the compartment.

"Mr. Lupin, did you find your book?"

"Er, no, I believe I might've left it in my compartment, actually," Remus said.

"Well, then, goodbye, boys. And do drop a line to Lily and James saying that if they can't be polite to each other, they'll be losing their Head statuses."

Lily and James saw a trace of shock in Remus's expression as he and Sirius exited the compartment, closing it securely behind them. James pulled the cloak off of himself and Lily.

"I cannot believe we fooled him," James said disbelievingly.

"I think Padfoot's compliment won him over," Remus said, patting Sirius on the back. "Wow, that was surprisingly smart of you."

"Please," James scoffed. "Padfoot's always smart. I reckon he could escape from Azkaban if he ever needed to."

Sirius grinned. Then, turning to James and Lily, he said, "Well, apparently you lose your statuses if you aren't civilized."

Lily nodded sourly.

Remus and Sirius stared at each other for a moment and then burst out in peels of raucous laughter. "They won't last a week."

And with that, they walked away, leaving behind them a very indignant-looking Head Boy and Girl.


	7. The Dark Lord Ascending

Author's Note: This chapter is a bit depressing, actually. I felt infinitely bad for Lily while I was writing it.

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

September 1, 1977

Lily and James shepherded the first-year students out of the Great Hall, so that the Prefects could take them to the Gryffindor common room. The night's feast had been slightly unsettling as Headmaster Albus Dumbledore had put a damper on the festivities by talking about the rising Lord Voldemort.

"_Students," he'd said gravely. "I know all of you are aware of the dangers that surround the school at the moment._

"_Voldemort,"—there'd been a few collective shudders—"is gaining power. But he is not alone. He is gathering an army of faithful servants of whom he calls… Death Eaters." Dumbledore's eyes had lingered at the Slytherin table for a few moments, where a few Slytherins sat smirking._

Lily had been quite disgusted to find that her old friend, Severus Snape, had been one of the many Slytherins who'd expressed delight at the possibility of the Dark Lord rising.

"Alright, Evans?" James asked apprehensively.

Lily snapped out of her reverie, realizing that she'd curled both her hands into tight fists and was gnashing her teeth menacingly.

"Yeah… yeah, I'm fine."

James nodded.

"Potter?"

"Yeah?"

"What's happening with Voldemort and his army?"

"What d'yu mean?"

"I mean… what's the deal? What's he after?"

James ran a hand through his hair uncomfortably.

"Well, the rumor is that he's after,"—he stopped brusquely, turning around to face Lily—"muggleborns. Non-magic folk."

Lily was silent.

"It's pretty sick, actually," James continued. "I mean, the rest of us know that blood purity doesn't make a difference."

Lily nodded, throat suddenly constricting.

"Look at Sirius. His whole family is a bunch of pure-blood freaks, but he doesn't even give a damn," James carried on.

"I heard a rumor he was disowned," Lily said quietly.

"Who told you that?" James frowned.

Lily opened her mouth to answer, but closed it again. She didn't want to tell James that Pettigrew had mentioned it to her the previous year; she'd made Pettigrew _promise_ not to tell anyone else once she'd found out that it was supposed to be a secret. "It doesn't matter," she said quickly.

James gazed at her in a way that made her feel somewhat ill at ease. "Yeah, he was. He's staying at my place now, planning on getting his own place after Hogwarts… we're here," he finished.

Lily looked up and saw that James had stopped in front of a significantly large portrait of a heavily armored knight on the seventh floor.

"Hi, Sir Cadogan," James beamed at the knight.

"I'm not even going to ask how you know his name," Lily mumbled.

"Well, hello, good sir. Here to help me fight the scoundrels and rogues that dared to trespass upon my private lands?"

"Indeed," James said, winking at Lily. "Tell us the first password of the year, so that we may go inside our dormitories and prepare for battle."

A password was set and then recited by James, and the portrait of the knight swung open, revealing a small, but cozy, common room. Banners from all four houses hung around the wall, and, on the right wall, the name of every single Head Boy and Head Girl Hogwarts had ever had was engraved into the concrete."

"Whoa," Lily breathed, spinning around and taking in the view.

"Dormitories are right over there," James said, pointing to two staircase, one on the right of the room and one on the left.

"Thanks, J—P—J—Potter," Lily said, a slight pink tinge appearing on her cheeks.

"Sure," James smirked and climbed up the left staircase to his dormitory.

Lily stared after his diminishing form thoughtfully. Perhaps this was what Slughorn had meant by having a refined conversation.

It hadn't been so hard.


	8. We Won't Rat You Out

Author's Note: The title of this chapter applies to both situations that occur—above_ and_ below the line. This chapter is a bit of a filler, I know, but I couldn't help it. I needed some humor after depressing poor Lily Evans out. Anyway, I love how loyal the Marauders are in this one. It's quite sweet.

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

September 2, 1977

Lily didn't know what she'd been thinking the previous night when she'd deemed that being civilized to Potter could be an easy feat.

She woke up the next morning to The Weird Sisters' "Do the Hippogriff" hammering through the wall. Sitting bolt right up in bed, Lily grabbed her wand from her bed-side table and thundered down the stairs to the common room.

Remus Lupin was sitting in the largest armchair, resting his feet on the coffee table, looking thoroughly immersed in the latest issue of the Daily Prophet.

Sirius Black was tweaking with a radio on the coffee table, and singing along to the obnoxiously loud music that had woken Lily up.

Lily couldn't remember having invited these two idiots to give her a wakeup call.

"Black!" she yelled over the music. Sirius turned around and grinned at her. "What the hell are you doing in my common room?"

"James told us to stop by," Remus, who was closer to her, explained.

Lily turned around. "Oh, and did it _not _occur to Potter to _ask me first_?"

"We figured he had," Remus said uncomfortably.

"Hey guys," a voice said, and James Potter himself made an appearance, fully dressed. "What are you still doing in pajamas?" he chuckled to Lily.

"Oh, nothing," she said sardonically. "Just wondering what these two _dolts_ are doing in MY COMMON ROOM!"

"Hey," James said, putting his arms up in a manner of defending himself. "It's my common room, too."

"Do you see my friends in here playing earsplitting music at seven o'clock in the morning?" Lily asked, crossing her arms and tapping her foot edgily.

James glanced around the room. "Nope, but I doubt Mary and Alice would do something like that."

Lily rolled her eyes and her eyes fell on something that was moving on the coffee table. She shrieked at the top of her voice.

"What? What is it?" James asked anxiously.

"There's a rat on the coffee table!" she yelled, pointing at a fat gray rat that was scurrying over the table.

Snatching Hogwarts, A History from the table top, she raised it right above her head and was just about the hit the animal when—

"NO!" James and Sirius roared simultaneously.

Lily froze, the book still held high above her head.

James picked the trembling animal up and put it on his shoulder.

"It's my pet," he explained to Lily.

Lily raised an eyebrow disbelievingly. The last time she'd checked, James definitely did not have a pet rat.

"I'm not letting you keep that thing in here," Lily snapped.

"Fine, Sirius, you keep it," James said and passed the rat to his friend.

Lily couldn't believe that James would so willingly let _Sirius Black_ keep his pet. She put her hands on her hips suspiciously.

"Who does the rat really belong to?" Lily wanted to know.

Sirius and James glanced at each other briefly.

"Him," they said together, both pointing at Remus Lupin, who looked up from his newspaper innocently.

He looked from James, who was pointing a finger at him accusingly, to Lily, who was staring at him expectantly with her hands on her hips, to Sirius, who was also pointing at him and dangling a rat by its tail.

"Sirius!" Remus admonished. "Why are you holding Peter—,"

"Peter's the name of the rat," Sirius interrupted hurriedly.

"You named a _rat_ after your best friend?" Lily asked, appalled.

Lily's wary gaze was intensifying by the second.

Remus, Sirius, and James exchanged looks of confirmation. "Yep," the three boys chorused.

Lily could've sworn that the rat, which was now sitting comfortably on Sirius's shoulder, made a barely audible angry squeak.

* * *

"…the next full moon, Moony?"

Half-an-hour later found the Marauders and Lily walking to their N.E.W.T. level Transfiguration class. The Marauders were walking just a tad behind Lily so that she wouldn't overhear their discussion.

"On the twenty-seventh. It'll be a Tuesday," Remus muttered in a low voice, looking up to make sure Lily wasn't listening.

James didn't miss this. "Why are you so against her knowing?" James wanted to know. "You two were prefects together; you're the only one of us that she actually_ likes_," he finished rather bitterly.

"It'll wreck everything!" Remus whispered furiously. "I wasn't even supposed to tell you guys, and you know… and so does Snape."

"Don't worry Moony, Snivellus's been sworn to secrecy," Sirius said offhandedly waving a hand, although his features showed signs of guilt; it was because of an error on his part that Snape knew in the first place.

"And Lily wouldn't look down on you either," James said. "Honestly, you think people will hate you just because of your furry little problem."

"It's not a_ little_ problem, James," Remus said sadly. "You know, I'm starting to think that what we do every full moon is too… life-threatening."

James, Sirius, and Peter stopped in their tracks, all of them wearing such comically identical incredulous expressions that Remus had to stifle a chuckle.

"_What_?" Sirius asked, completely caught off guard.

"Moony, we've been doing this for five years," James said.

"You can't back out now," Peter put in.

"I believe I can do whatever I want," Remus said coolly. Then, sighing, he said, "I'm just so worried I'll hurt one of you."

James scoffed. "Please, the only person you hurt is yourself. I mean look at the number of scars on your face."

Remus ran a hand lightly over one of the many scars that graced his tired, worn-out face, his expression contemplative. "I suppose you're right…"

"We always are," Sirius smirked.

"But just say if someone found out-," Remus began nervously.

"Then we'll back you up," James said reassuringly.

"Yeah, we won't rat you out, Moony," Sirius nodded.

"We promise."


	9. Assumptions

Author's Note: Well, it looks like Lily's making a few _interesting _discoveries in this chapter. Thanks to all who have read and left reviews so far! Each and every one made my day special! Thank you all so much.

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

September 2, 1977

"Settle down, class," Professor McGonagall said crisply, striding into the room.

She eyed the rather small class—only a few students had been cleared to take N.E.W.T. level transfiguration the year previous—sternly, her firm gaze remaining fleetingly on where the four Marauders were sitting together, wearing looks of pure incorruptibility that did not fool her at all.

"In our lesson today we will be covering—,"

James raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr. Potter?"

"How was your summer, Professor?" James asked innocently.

"Excellent, thank you very much. Now, continuing on—,"

Sirius stuck his hand in the air with exaggerated enthusiasm.

"Yes, Mr. Black?" McGonagall asked resignedly.

"Did you go anywhere?" Sirius asked with a charming smile.

"Indeed. I walked _all_ around Hogwarts and helped tidy up for the school year. Now as I was saying—_yes, Mr. Potter_?" she finished, clearly aggravated.

"Didn't you do anything fun, Professor?" he asked.

Minerva McGonagall raised an eyebrow at him. "I haven't had _fun_ for years now, Mr. Potter… is there a point to all these questions or are you just _craving_ for your first detention of the year?"

"No, Professor. Just merely curious," James said with a roguish grin.

McGonagall rolled her eyes, and continued the lesson with the tiniest hint of an exasperated smile on her face.

"Today we will be doing six years worth of review," she began. "Starting from needles into matchsticks,"—there was much scoffing—"and finishing with switching, vanishment, conjuration, and untransfiguration."

"I will be putting you in pairs," she said, watching the class closely for their reactions. Immediately, Potter and Black instinctively moved closer together, as did Lupin and Pettigrew. Lily Evans and Alice Prewett exchanged glances and gave almost imperceptible nods.

Nearly every single person in the class was trying to catch someone else's eye. Apparently everyone was unable to understand the meaning of '_I_ will be putting you in pairs.'

"Mr. Potter and Ms. Evans will be a pair," McGonagall said, completely ignoring the groan that emitted from Lily's mouth. "Mr. Lupin and Mr. Snape will work together." Remus's expression was indecipherable, but Snape looked livid. "Ms. MacDonald and Ms. Prewett…" and one by one she allotted groups.

"Why am I always paired with you?" Lily grumbled, clutching her wand tightly with vehemence as she moved to stand with the unwanted partner.

"You see," Sirius chuckled as he and Peter pulled out their wands, "even the teachers have formed a ploy to finally get you two together."

"Or," Remus said reasonably, watching impassively as Severus Snape approached the group looking fit to kill someone, "it could be because they have to learn to work together."

"Evans," James started casually, turning his matchstick into a needle with a lazy flick of his wand, "will you—,"

"NO, POTTER!" she yelled, trying not to show her jealousy as her matchstick took two attempts to transfigure, "I WILL _NOT_ GO OUT WITH YOU!"

"—pass me another matchstick?" James finished, looking both delighted and petrified.

Lily felt her face turn as red as her hair. She glanced around the classroom. Sirius was wearing a knowing expression identical to James's, Remus was looking pleasantly amused, and both Severus and Professsor McGonagall were looking nothing less than completely incensed.

"Ms. Evans!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed. "What is the meaning of this?"

Lily looked sheepish, determinedly avoiding James's penetrating look. "I'm sorry, Professor," she mumbled.

"Detention for you tomorrow night," McGonagall said tersely.

"It's funny how you assume things," James said, winking at her. "It's almost as if you wanted me to ask you out."

"Oh, shut up, Potter," Lily said, blushing red again. "I have detention tomorrow because of you."

"Because of me? I beg to differ. You are the one who yelled 'No, Potter!' at the top of your lungs."

Lily stiffened, and transfigured her raven into a goblet with a swish of her wand. She couldn't think of an appropriate response, so she settled for a stony silence.

"Potter," she called several minutes later, "pass me a beetle, will you?"

James took his time, reaching over to the box of beetles and pulling one out. As he did so, Lily couldn't help but notice how toned his arms were. Apparently, the millions of Quidditch practices he held each week did him good.

James placed the beetle in Lily's outstretched palm, lightly brushing his fingers over hers as he did so. Lily felt a jolt of what seemed like electricity up her arm, and made an unwilling shiver.

She glanced at James; if he had felt any of what she had, he did not show it for he was bent over vase, frowning as he examined it. She felt slightly let down and something else, though she couldn't quite put a name to it.

She shook her head, trying to relinquish such thoughts from her head.

Because whatever happened, she would not fall for James Potter.

She would not fall for the same boy who'd been the cause of her infuriation all these years.

She would not go out with _James Potter_, who'd tormented and mocked her had-been best friend whenever he'd had the chance.

And yet, she couldn't help but spare one last passing glance in his direction as she packed up her things and exited the classroom at the end of the lesson.


	10. What's Up With You?

Author's Note: And the lovers' friends confront them...

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

September 2, 1977

"Evans was eyeing you a lot today in class," Sirius said to James as they left the Transfiguration classroom with Peter lagging a little bit behind.

"When does she _not_ eye me?" James asked resentfully. "The death glares she sends in my direction are sort of getting to me, you know."

"No," Sirius said, shaking his head. "It was different today. She wasn't glaring."

James looked entirely taken aback. "What?"

"Yeah, she was looking at you differently," Sirius said, nodding.

"Differently…" James trailed off, running a hand through his hair as he glanced at the moving stature of Lily Evans in front of him, standing in between her two best friends. She was acting strangely quieter than usual, jumping every time Mary or Alice said something, earning her odd looks from the both of them.

"Thanks for waiting for me," Remus said sarcastically, slightly breathless as he caught up with his three best friends.

"Sorry, Moony," Sirius said with a bark of laughter. "We thought we'd give you a little alone time with Snivellus." Peter Pettigrew giggled at this.

Remus shook his head with annoyance. Then, glancing at the silent form of James Potter in front of him, he turned to Sirius. "What's up with Prongs?"

"I told him how Lily kept looking at him today… not the same as usual."

"Yeah, she was," Remus confirmed. "It was kind of hard to miss with Snape seething next to me every time he saw this."

"Snivellus is a prat," Sirius declared.

Remus rolled his eyes. "You're one to talk."

"Hey!"

* * *

"What is _up_ with you today?" Alice Prewett asked as Lily started for the sixth time during their conversation.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked in a rush, going a deep shade of red.

"You keep twitching," Mary explained, performing a very much exaggerated version of Lily's twitch. Alice chuckled.

"Nothing's wrong with me," Lily said in a strangely high-pitched voice.

"I've said it once and I'll say it again," Mary said steadily. "You—are—an—awful—liar," she punctuated each word with a smack.

"Ow," Lily frowned, as she rubbed the back of her head crossly.

"Come on, Lils, Alice urged. "Tell us what's wrong. We're your friends."

"Best friends," Mary put in.

"I—," Lily stopped short.

How could she explain to her two best friends that she had shivered at James's touch? She could quite imagine her friends' reactions. Alice would gasp and launch into one of her romance lectures, informing Lily of how she felt the _same thing_ when Frank Longbottom touched _her_.

Mary, on the other hand, would just shake her head in a 'you two are completely mental' sort of way. She was a firm non-believer in romance.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lily settled for instead, completely ignoring the pointedly skeptical expressions on her two friends' faces.


	11. The Marauder's Map

Author's Note: This is the opening chapter for the next one, which is an immensely important one.

And before I forget, 'kscandy15' brought up a good point. She asked why Lily would get a detention for just shouting—she figured tha it was because it was necessary for the plotline. Well, she was right. Or maybe it's because Lily's Head Girl and should know better... or maybe McGonagall was just in a really bad mood. ;)

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

September 3, 1977

Lily made her way to the Trophy Room, where she'd been assigned detention for the night. But when she threw open the door and stepped inside she was surprised—and yet, in a way, _not_ surprised—to see James-bloody-Potter standing there already.

"Why are you here?" she asked tiredly.

"Blew up something with Sirius," he said nonchalantly.

"Why isn't _he_ here?"

"Are you kidding?" James scoffed. "They stopped putting us in the same detention _years_ ago."

"Thank Merlin," Lily sighed. "I'd die if I had to deal with _both_ of you right now."

"Well, m'dear lady, you shall then be dying a very tragic death tonight—,"

Lily raised an eyebrow.

"—for Sirius Black shall be here in spirit."

And from within his cloak, he pulled out a mirror—a very familiar mirror.

Lily groaned.

"Sirius Black," James said to the mirror.

"Oi, Prongs, where are you?" Sirius's voice questioned from the object in James's hands.

"I'm in the Trophy Room. How did you _not_ know that? I thought you had the map," James said.

_Map?_ Lily wondered.

"No," Sirius said. "You have the map."

"No, _you_ do."

"No, _you_ do!"

"Oh, you're right, I do," James said sheepishly as he pulled out a large, square, rather worn out piece of parchment from his cloak.

Tapping his wand to the parchment, James muttered under his breath, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Lily didn't doubt that at all.

She moved closer, astounded, as fine ink lines began to spread like water across the page from the exact spot that James's wand had touched. They coupled together, line by line, until they formed a large diagram. Then, curly letters spiraled their way onto the top of the page in a bottle green ink, spelling out, 'THE MARAUDER'S MAP.'

It took Lily a second for her to realize that she was staring at a map—a map of Hogwarts, no less. Her eyes widened as she spotted minuscule ink dots moving across the page, each labeled with a name in equally minuscule writing.

She felt a rush of excitement as she spotted her own dot in a room labeled 'Trophy Room' next to a dot marked 'James Potter.'

"Brilliant," she found herself mumbling weakly.

"Is that Evans I see?" Sirius's cheeky voice asked from the mirror. "McGonagall put you two in the _same_ detention? Now I'm convinced that the teacher's have made a pact."

"Yes, yes," James grinned. "And you know what else? She just called our map brilliant!"

"_Brilliant_? Did she really, James?"

James nodded exuberantly.

Lily rolled her eyes, wishing she hadn't said anything. Potter would hold this against her for the rest of her life. Suddenly, she heard footsteps down the hall.

"Quick, put it away," she urged. "Someone's coming."

James glanced at the map. "Filch is coming," he said to the mirror. And he put both the mirror and map away in a flash, just as the door swung open.

Argus Filch, the least popular staff member in Hogwarts, stepped into the Trophy Room, grumbling under his breath.

"Rule-breakers, eh?" he asked with a malicious smile. "Well, today you two'll be cleaning up the Trophy Room. _No_ magic… if you use magic, I'll know, so beware."

"How could you know?" James snorted derisively under his breath, so that only Lily could hear him. "You can't even use it yourself."

Lily fought back a snigger.

Filch slammed the door behind him. James waited a few seconds, and then hurried to the door, wrenching it open.

"Where do you think you're going?" Lily wanted to know.

James spun around slowly on the spot, expression incredulous. "You don't honestly think I'm going to stay here, do you?"

"Well up until a moment ago, I did," Lily said. "Where are you going, then?"

"To cause a little more mayhem," James smirked. "Want to come with?"

Lily opened her mouth to say, "Not in this lifetime," but closed it again. Something held her back.

"Come on, Lily," James urged. "Live a little."

Words failed Lily. Potter had just called her by her first name. She hesitated, eyeing the door rather longingly.

James shrugged and left, closing the door behind him with a click.

Lily turned around to face the dozens of trophies behind her that were waiting to be polished.

"James, you're an idiot," she declared and paused, as if seeing whether the Earth would suddenly explode because she'd used his first name. "Oh, alright, I'll come, too."

Sighing and shaking her head at her foolishness, she turned her back on the Trophy Room—turned her back on the _right_ thing to do—and exited the room, searching for James Potter.


	12. Thrills and Chills

Author's Note: Greetings, my lovely readers! Here's the next chapter—this one's quite important! James and Lily are getting along more and more, aren't they?

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

September 3, 1977

Tiptoeing stealthily across the marble floor, Lily Evans searched desperately for any sight of James Potter or Sirius Black. Never in a million years would she have thought that she would one day be skiving off a detention to be with those two.

But here she was, doing just that.

"BOOM!"

Lily froze with fear as mad cackling and swearing followed the explosion that had occurred from just around the corner. Hurrying forward, she turned sharply around the bend, only to be met with a very foul stench and an empty corridor, save a lonely-looking dungbomb in the midst of it all.

A feeling of utter panic and disorientation fell over her. Oh, why hadn't she just stayed at the Trophy Room? Whatever had possessed her to do something this idiotic?

Oh, that's right, Potter.

Yes, he was _Potter _again.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps from behind her. She spun around hopefully, only to see Filch clanking down the narrow corridor.

Fortunately he was some ways away and hadn't spotted her yet, so she leaned back against the wall, hiding herself among the shadows, taking deep calming breaths and trying to figure a way out of this.

But—

"HAH!" Filch hollered gleefully and Lily paled as she turned to see Filch running towards her. "THERE YOU ARE, YOU FILTHY DELINQUENT! DUNGBOMBS, EH? YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO DO BETTER THAN THAT TO FOOL OLD FILCHY HERE!"

_Filchy?_ But Lily didn't have time to ponder the eccentricity of the caretaker's behavior when he was incensed. Filch was running faster now, getting closer and closer, until…

"_Lily_?" an incredulous voice whispered. "What are you doing here?"

And she was whipped out of sight.

Opening her eyes, her heart rate slowed down as she took in her new surroundings. She was no longer trapped in a corridor with Filch charging towards her. She was in an empty classroom with… _Potter?_

"H—how… where… but you—," she stuttered.

James was gazing at her with pride. "You came?"

To her astonishment, Lily found herself blushing fiercely. "Yeah, but only because you told me to," she snapped half-heartedly. That wasn't true. She'd _wanted_ to come.

James grinned and glanced at The Marauder's Map, which he was holding. "Quick," he said in a harried voice which was now inflicted with fear. "We have to get out of here!"

"Why?" Lily asked rather regretfully. She was quite enjoying herself, but Potter didn't have to know that.

"Filch is coming, and he's headed right for this classroom!" James said urgently, and grabbing Lily's wrist—sending the same weird tingling sensation up her arm—, he pulled her under his Invisibility Cloak once again and out of the classroom.

Soon they were inching their way across the floor, praying that Argus Filch decided to change course.

All of a sudden—

"Dungbombs," Filch grumbled wrathfully under his breath. "Stupid idiots skipped detention, eh? Wait 'till I get my hands on them…"

Filch seemed to materialize out of thin air right next to them as he made to enter the classroom that they'd exited not more than two seconds ago. Lily gasped loudly, forcing James to clap a hand over her mouth. Lily's eyes widened as Filch brushed past them, his arm accidentally touching Lily's shoulder. He froze, turning his head slowly so that his eyes were staring right at them.

He edged closer and closer towards them, hand stretching out so that it was almost touching the cloak that enclosed the pair. James pulled Lily so near to his body that his uneven breathing echoed loudly in her ears.

And Lily was enjoying every bit of it.

"Filch!" James exclaimed in a hoarse whisper.

Lily's head swiveled around, wide eyes surveying him in disbelief. The bloke who had a hand over her mouth was now talking freely.

"What are you doing here?" James questioned in the same hoarse voice.

Filch gave a start and looked up, chest heaving and pupils diluted with fear.

"Who is it? Who's there?" Filch asked and Lily was pleased to hear a definite note of alarm in his voice.

"The Bloody Baron, of course," James said.

_Excellent_! Lily thought to herself, hope replacing the fear that had constricted her chest.

"Bloody Baron, eh? Have _you_ by any chance seen two hooligans running around that were supposed to be in detention?" Filch asked.

"And where exactly was this detention?"

"The Trophy Room."

"Oh?" James sounded genuinely surprised. "But I was just there and they were hard at work, almost done cleaning all the trophies."

Filch looked suspicious. "Were they?"

"Yes, come with me and I'll show you."

Ignoring Filch's cries of "But you're invisible!" James took off at a run, Lily at his heels. Soon they were both panting heavily as they threw open the door to the Trophy Room. James whisked the cloak off the two of them, and placed it in his pocket.

"Pretend to be cleaning," James said breathlessly as he grabbed a towel and began wiping feverishly at a Special Services to the School award that had apparently been presented to a boy named 'Tom Riddle' in 1942.

The door to the room flew open and Lily and James looked up naively to see a disheveled Filch wearing a murderous expression on his face.

"YOU!" he bellowed, pointing an accusing finger at the pair of them.

Lily and James opened their mouths to innocently ask what the matter was, but their actions were diverted by the sudden appearance of their Head of House at the room entrance.

"Ah, Potter, Evans," she said curtly, examining the dozens of spotless awards that sat on the shelves. "You've done an _excellent_ job today, I must say. I sincerely hope I do not have to give you two any more detentions this year. Run along, now."

James and Lily fled from the room before they could burst out laughing at Filch's indignant spluttering.

They entered the common room moments later. Remus looked up from his Transfiguration essay, wearing a rather bemused expression as he glanced from Lily to James, as if wondering why they weren't biting each other's heads off."

"How did your detention go?" he wanted to know.

Lily and James exchanged grins. "Oh, we did an _excellent _job today."


	13. The Best Policy

Author's Note: And the games begin! Yes, thus begins the real work towards getting Lily and James together. I'm sorry I haven't updated as quickly as I usually do. Anyway, here's some good ol' Marauder-ness. Yes, Sirius has a plan—QUICK HIDE! ;)

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

September 25, 1977

James sat by the fireplace, lost in yet another daydream about his one true love, not caring, much less aware, that his three friends were all staring at him like he was a hopeless case.

"Do you think we should snap him out of it?" Peter Pettigrew asked anxiously.

"Nah," Remus said, looking rather sympathetic. "It's not like Lily will ever say yes. Might as well let him dream about it."

"I beg to differ!" Sirius said immediately. Pulling his wand out from his pocket and pointing it at James, Sirius muttered, "Aguamenti."

Ignoring James's spluttering of indignation and annoyance, Remus went on, "What do you mean? You think she _will_ say yes?"

"I'm sure of it!" Sirius said. "By the end of this year, Evans will be in love with James. I'd swear by it."

Remus scoffed. "Please. She doesn't give him the time of day."

"Hey," Sirius said with a shrug, "you said it yourself. She's acting differently these days."

"You do have a point there," Remus agreed.

A somewhat comfortable silence fell over the four friends. James had once again resumed his day-dreaming, eyes glued to the stunning, red-haired girl who was sitting at a table nearby.

Remus had hidden himself behind his favorite book, _Hogwarts, A History_, though whether or not he was actually reading was not clear. His brows were furrowed in deep concentration, but his eyes weren't moving across the page.

Sirius was lying down on the floor, eyes closed and expression thoughtful. Suddenly his eyes snapped open. He slapped a hand to his forehead so loudly that many heads turned and gave odd looks in their direction. "I've got it!"

"Oh no!" Remus said in a mock-fearful voice. "Sirius has a plan. Do you think we should run or hide?"

"Hide, I reckon. It sounds like an explosive one," James laughed with a knowledgeable smirk.

"Oh, ha ha," Sirius said sarcastically. "No, listen to this. It's a fail-safe way to get Evans to go out with you."

"Okay," James said, sitting up a bit straighter. "Let's hear it, then."

"You must be desperate, Prongs," Remus said, shaking his head at his friend's foolishness. "This is Sirius's plan we're talking about. This is the bloke who told you in fourth year that jumping off the Astronomy Tower was the best way to impress girls."

"Shut up, Moony," Sirius said, glowering in Remus's direction. "I have a real plan. You'll thank me once you hear it."

"Spill," James said eagerly, as he, Remus, and Peter leaned closer.

"Get a girlfriend," Sirius said simply.

Remus instantaneously gave James his prize 'I told you so' expression.

James just stared blankly at his best friend. "So why is this plan worth a 'thanks' from me again—,"

"Are you not getting it?" Sirius cut in impatiently.

James glanced again at Lily, who was laughing with her head thrown back; her beautiful, dark red curls were cascading down her back like a waterfall... "Not at all."

"Come on, it's obvious," Sirius urged, looking from one skeptical expression to the next. "But if you dunderheads need a step by step explanation…"

And ignoring Remus's muttering of "Yes, enlighten us, oh crazy one," Sirius plunged into his promised clarification. "Get a girlfriend. It'll make Evans so jealous that she'll go insane and then ask you out herself."

There was a moment's silence as the three boys contemplated this plan.

"Good plan," Peter said with a winning smile.

"See? Wormtail thinks it's good," Sirius said smugly, patting a glowing Pettigrew on the back.

"Well, it is a rather good plan," Remus agreed, though with certifiable uncertainty. "But this is Lily we're talking about. Do you honestly think she'll have a positive reaction to James getting a girl?"

"No, but that's the point. She'll go ballistic and then have no choice but to admit her feelings for you," Sirius said, addressing James.

"The feelings for me that exist only in my head. I don't know, Sirius," James said doubtfully, "I haven't had a girlfriend in three years."

"Which was your mistake all along! If you'd gone with this plan years ago, Evans would've been yours and yours to keep. You know what they say… jealousy is the best policy."

"No," Remus rectified, rolling his eyes exasperatedly. "Honesty is the best policy."

Sirius laughed. "Oh please, that policy has been ridiculed since Medieval Times."

"So you think I should be honest with Evans?" James turned to Remus.

"Oh yeah," Sirius said carelessly. "If you want your arse kicked."

"I don't want _my_ arse kicked," Peter put in randomly.

"Oh, no one does, Wormy," Sirius said, glaring at James. "Except Prongs here because he's too thick to go with my ingenious plan."

James gave a sigh of resignation. "Fine, I'll go with your plan." He glanced around at the many females in the common room with distaste, obviously feeling that none could compare to his auburn-haired beauty. "But if it fails, be sure to include me in your will."

"That I will, Prongs, that I will."


	14. Dream Girls and Lovers' Quarrels

Author's Note: Remus and Sirius argue quite a bit in this chapter. I suspect it has something to do with Remus absolutely not agreeing with this plan, but he goes along with it anyway—poor guy, does he really have a choice with James and Sirius as his friends?

By the way, I do not—under any circumstances—ship Remus and Sirius, in case you might think so as you read this chapter. I don't agree with pairings unless they're canon or at least believable. I sort of eliminated Peter from this chapter. Let's just say he has a detention with McGonagall for letting his grades slip.

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

September 27, 1977

James stood at the entrance to the Great Hall, surveying the female population of Hogwarts uncomprehendingly. Sirius was standing on his right side, staring at James with a look of pure incredulity. Remus was standing on James's left, surveying _both_ his friends and wondering whether he ought to begin talking them out of this ridiculous plan.

"Well, what on Earth are you waiting for?" Sirius ploughed on impatiently.

James didn't answer but just turned to Sirius with a completely vacant expression on his face.

Sirius shook his head. "This is going to be harder than I thought."

"Why?" Remus wanted to know.

"He doesn't know how to get a girl," Sirius stated as if it were just so obvious.

There was a pause as Remus absorbed this seemingly impractical piece of information.

"But he has a sodding fan club, for Merlin's sake!" Remus exclaimed, pointing to the gaggle of giggling girls in the corner of the hall, all of whom were gazing at the three Marauders with nothing less than extremely sickening adoration. "Why can't he just walk up to one of them and say 'be my girlfriend, would you—,'"

"Are you insane?" Sirius interrupted Remus edgily.

"No," Remus retaliated, glowering menacingly at his friend. "I rather thought that adjective only served to describe you."

Sirius pointedly ignored this. "James can't ask one of them! They're a bunch of giggling idiots."

"So?" Remus questioned, looking confused.

"Oh, Moony," Sirius said in what sounded like a genuinely pained voice.

Remus raised an eyebrow.

"It worries me how little you know about the opposite gender—,"

"And pray, tell me how _you_ know so much." Remus said, crossing his arms. His eyebrows were now so high up his forehead that Sirius half-expected them to disappear into his hair.

"I live amongst them," Sirius exclaimed theatrically with a much embellished flourish of his arm.

"No, everyone lives amongst them." Remus snorted scathingly. "_You_ just pick one to snog in the broom cupboard every Friday night—,"

James cleared his throat, making Sirius and Remus jump violently; it seemed as if both had forgotten his existence until that moment.

"If you two are quite finished with your little lovers' quarrel—,"

Remus was almost spitting with disgust. "_Lovers'_ quarrel?" he choked out.

Sirius looked, if possible, even more revolted.

James, judging from the horrified and furious expressions on his two friends' faces, realized that things were looking pretty bad for him. He hurriedly steered the topic back to safe ground. "Padfoot, what am I supposed to do?"

"Hmm," Sirius looked deep in thought. "First we have to decide who would make Lily the most jealous."

They three boys scanned the hall intently.

Remus spoke first. "How about that pretty Hufflepuff girl over there?" he asked, pointing to an attractive-looking girl who was sitting at the edge of the Hufflepuff table.

"No way," Sirius shook his head furiously. "I think I snogged her once. And regretted it afterwards. She really was terrible at it."

Remus rolled his eyes. "You speak of it like it's an art."

"Oh, but it is!" Sirius cried. "You have to know which method of snogging to use depending on the girl in question. I personally prefer—,"

"Please spare us the details," Remus shuddered and resumed his surveillance of the Great Hall."

"How about her?" James asked, pointing to a very curvy brunette who looked thoroughly engrossed in a book as she exited the hall.

"Too studious," Sirius said, scrutinizing her with squinted eyes.

"Too shallow," Remus said with narrowed eyes, pointing at Sirius.

"Too annoying," Sirius said angrily, turning to Remus with a glare.

"Too many girls," James whined as fresh horde of girls exited the hall with a many a waft of perfume and giggling.

All three boys sighed resignedly.

"This is a lot more difficult than I anticipated it would be," Sirius said wearily.

"Not everyone has girls practically throwing themselves at their feet like you, Padfoot," James shrugged.

"You could if you tried!" Sirius argued. "Girls used to throw themselves at you until you spent every free moment of your life memorizing the piece of work that is Evans."

"Lily is not a piece of work," James snapped.

"Since when is she Lily to you, Prongs?" Remus asked interestedly and even Sirius stopped glaring daggers at James to raise an eyebrow questioningly.

"What do you mean?" James asked, affronted. "She was always Lily."

Remus and Sirius exchanged a skeptical glance.

"'Go out with me, _Evans_?' 'Come on, _Evans_, say yes!' 'Oi, _Evans_, there's a Hogsmede trip on Valentine's day…'" Sirius mimicked in a very inaccurate and high-pitched version of James's voice.

James blushed slightly. "I don't know. I just started calling her Lily… and she started calling me James."

"What?" Remus and Sirius both looked shocked. "She's calling you _James _now?"

"Well, yeah," James said casually, "that's my name, you know."

Remus rolled his eyes. "Can we please stop getting distracted by Sirius's stupidity and focus on the task at hand?"

And ignoring Sirius's enraged retort, Remus hastily went on, "What we _need_ is someone who's both good-looking and smart."

"Someone who knows us moderately well," Sirius added.

"Someone who won't murder me when I break up with her for Evans," James nodded pensively.

"Someone who's the total package," Sirius chimed in enthusiastically.

"Oi, you three," a crisp feminine voice from behind them declared.

The three boys swiveled around to witness Mary MacDonald walking towards them in all her gorgeous glory. Her blonde hair was flying behind her with perfection. Her flawless brows were creased slightly, and her startlingly bright blue eyes were narrowed to the point of being slits as she studied the three gawking Marauders crossly.

"I need your help. Lily is driving Alice and me up the wall with her sudden weirdness. We suspect it has something to do with Potter here," she said, crossing her arms and glaring at Potter irately.

The three seventh-year boys exchanged fleeting glances and Sirius muttered, "Bingo."


	15. Sirius Puts The Black In Blackmail

Author's Note: There were a lot of comments about how Mary shouldn't do it because she and Lily are friends, but trust me, she doesn't really have a say in the matter. And everything turns out alright in the end. I think someone also mentioned that it would be shallow of Lily to be jealous of Mary, but think of it in a Ron and Hermione way. They both fancied the other, so what did they do? Get a girlfriend/boyfriend to make the other jealous.

In any case, by the end of this madness, everything will work out between everyone, so don't fear.

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

September 27, 1977

"No sodding way."

Mary MacDonald was seated in a wooden chair, arms crossed, and expression incredulous as she stared across the table at the lunatic that was Sirius Black.

"Why not?" Sirius queried.

"Are you serious—,"

"Why yes," Sirius interrupted with a blasé flick of his hair. "Yes, I am."

Remus and James, who were standing behind where Sirius was settled, rolled their eyes.

Mary looked positively livid. "I won't do it!" she exclaimed feverishly, smacking her fist on the table fiercely. "Now, let me go."

"If you refuse, we have no choice but to lock you here in the cold, cold dungeons," Sirius shrugged.

"But Lily's my best friend!" Mary hollered. "How can I do that to her?"

"_To_ her?" Sirius asked, shaking his head. "No, no, no, you misunderstand me. It's what you can do _for_ her."

"Why don't you tell me _how_ this can bode well for my friendship with Lily, you tosser," Mary snarled, looking from one Marauder to the next.

There was silence as all three boys contemplated this.

Sirius spoke first. "As to that, I have no idea. But once she admits to herself that she likes James—which is oh so obvious already—she will forgive you."

"But that could take ages!" Mary exclaimed. "What am I supposed to do until then?"

"You have been given special authority to, as they say, 'hang out,' with the Marauders," Sirius explained, quirking an eyebrow.

Mary snorted. "Never, as in _not ever_. I'd rather 'hang out' in the Kitchens with the House Elves," Mary said.

There was a pause, and then Sirius leaned in closer. "We can make that happen."

Mary rolled her eyes. "Okay, first of all, why did you choose me for this idiotic job? Why not, say, Alice?"

"It is a well known fact in this school that Alice Prewett is dating Frank Longbottom," James put in.

"And despite the fact that Frank Longbottom is in the same year as us, he is about twice our size, and is therefore perfectly able to clobber us in to a pulp," Sirius explained.

"True," Mary admitted.

"Come on, MacDonald," James pleaded.

Mary looked uncertain. "And what if I say 'no?'"

Sirius snapped his fingers twice. "Remus, bring out the blackmail material."

Mary's face blanched considerably. "What do you have on me?"

"Oh, you shall see, my friend," Sirius said malevolently, as Remus passed him a heap of photographs from the depths of his cloak, looking profusely apologetic for it.

Taking the first three from the top, Sirius laid them out on the table top, watching as Mary's expression morphed into a furious, but fearful one.

Sirius pointed to the first one. "Fifth year. Common Room Party after Gryffindor won the Quidditch cup. You drank _fifty _bottles of butterbeer and were doing some very, er, _suggestive_dance moves, weren't you?"

Sirius then gestured to the second photograph on the table. "Sixth year. At Hogsmede. You drank illegal firewhiskey."

Then, Sirius fingered the last picture in his hands. "Now this one. This is a personal _favorite _of mine. Sixth year. You were clearly drunk as you were leaving The Hog's Head that day, and you"—Sirius laughed—"threw up on Aberforth Dumbledore's brand new robes."

Sparks practically flew out of Mary's eyes as she beheld the dreaded photograph. "Why you little—,"

"Now," Sirius went on, ignoring Mary's incessant cursing, "if I were to, oh I don't know, _accidentally_ leave these photographs on McGonagall's desk after Transfiguration—,"

"You wouldn't," Mary said in a low voice that was dripping with vehemence.

"I think we both know that I _would_," Sirius said, leaning back in his chair a little with a little too much vigor and almost toppling to the ground. Ignoring the "Smooth move" and snort that stemmed from Remus's mouth, Sirius went on, "So, what do you say?"

"I clearly don't have a choice, do I?" Mary asked bitterly. "Unless I want to get expelled."

There was a pause while Mary stared at the photograph version of her, who was giggling tipsily and downing the rest of her bottle in one. "How did you get these, anyway?"

"Nicked them from your dorm," Sirius shrugged.

"But you're not supposed to be able to get up there!"

"Doesn't mean Sirius can't do it," Remus put in. "How else do you think he gets the ladies? He has to go up there each Friday night and lasso one."

Sirius growled.


	16. Mental Mary and Deer Detections

Author's Note: Mary _does_ seem to have a bit of a thing for drinking, doesn't she? I'm sorry this chapter is not as humor-based as the last two, seeing as the Marauders aren't really in it.

And thank you guys so 'sodding' much for getting this story 100 reviews! I really and truly appreciate it.

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

September 27, 1977

Lily looked up to see Mary MacDonald walking into the dorm wearing an exceptionally disgruntled expression.

Although Lily had her own dorm to sleep in, she spent most of her time in the regular Gryffindor Girls' Dormitories; she missed sleeping there. Although the mere thought of sleeping just meters away from James every night sent frissons up and down her spine; therefore, she tried not to think too much about it.

"What's the matter?" Lily inquired, closing her Potions book as Mary threw off her bed covers and collapsed onto her bed.

"I don't want to talk about it," Mary grumbled.

"Come on, Mary," Lily urged, looking worried at the way her normally happy-go-lucky friend was acting. "What's wrong?"

"Seriously, Lily," Mary snapped. "I _don't_ want to talk about it."

Lily's eyes widened as Mary flopped back on her pillow, mumbling wrathfully to herself. The mumbling continued a few minutes longer, gradually subsiding and being replaced by her usual slow, deep, even breathing.

Lily was still staring at Mary with shock etched all over her face. Who was this girl sleeping on Mary's bed and what had she done with the lighthearted, optimistic joker that was Lily's best friend?

And so by the time the door opened a couple minutes later, Lily was almost ready to conclude that some irritable prat had nicked some Polyjuice Potion from the Slughorn's private stores, stunned Mary and taken some of her hair, and consequently morphed into her.

Alice Prewett walked into the room looking remarkably radiant. "Having a boyfriend is so great!" she exclaimed loudly, sighing as she fell backwards onto her four-poster bed, arms splayed dreamily.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lily saw Mary give a jerk in her sleep at the word 'boyfriend.' What in the name of Merlin was wrong with the girl?

"Shh, you idiot!" Lily chastised, glancing at Mary to make sure she hadn't woken up. "Mary's sleeping."

"Sleeping?" Alice raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Oh, come of it. You know as well as I do that Mary MacDonald doesn't sleep until _at least_ midnight."

And before Lily could intervene, Alice had pulled out her wand and flicked it at Mary's sleeping form.

"ARGH!" Mary bellowed as she was hoisted into the air by her ankle and dangled upside down. "I don't like the idiot!" she said in a swift voice. "His stupid friend made me do it! He blackmailed me!"

Both Alice and Lily were staring at Mary, utterly bewildered by their friend's incidental outburst.

"Liberacorpus," Lily muttered, and Mary plummeted onto the mattress below. Sitting bolt right up, she glared murderously at her two friends.

"What," she said in a dangerously low voice, "the bloody _hell_ was that for?"

"Sorry," Alice, the ever humble figure, said in a sincerely apologetic voice. "I thought you were awake."

"You know usually when people are awake, their eyes are open and they aren't lying down," Mary snarled.

"Mary," Lily frowned, and both Alice and Mary turned to her. "What were you talking about just now?"

"Huh?" Mary asked in a perplexed voice.

"Just now," Alice added, nodding. "You said something when you were in the air."

Mary's expression remained baffled.

"You said," Lily hesitated thoughtfully, trying to make sense of what Mary had just said. "You said something about a friend making you do something and blackmail."

Mary's face remained expressionless, but Lily was sure that something had changed in the depths of her appearance. Perhaps it was her skin paling ever-so-slightly. Or the way her right hand had twitched, obviously wanting more than anything to pull out a wand and obliviate her two friends.

But Mary just lay back down without even another word.

Lily walked back to the Head's Rooms alone half-an-hour later, feeling absolutely clueless as to what had made Mary so upset.

She and Alice had talked it over once they'd been sure that Mary had fallen asleep again. But neither had been able to come up with a plausible explanation.

Lily was feeling rather exhausted as she approached the portrait of Sir Cadogan. "Gemini," she yawned and Sir Cadogan's portrait flew open.

She let herself in, throwing her cloak onto an available armchair, and noticed a scrap of parchment spello-taped to the coffee table.

_Lily—  
I can't do Head Patrol tonight because of something else I have to do (don't worry, it's not a detention). So, I was hoping that you could do it for me? I'll do a double shift the next night, I promise.  
Love, James_

Lily was torn between irritation and a desire to sing a cheesy Muggle romance number at the top of her lungs. Potter was skiving off Head Duties? It was only the first month of school, for Merlin's sake.

Trust James to make a mess of his Head Boy title within his first month back here.

On the other hand, he'd signed the note 'Love, James.' And this was enough to make Lily want to burst into song, although for the love of her, she couldn't understand why. James was such an arrogant toerag—an arrogant toerag that _still_ hadn't asked her out even _once_ this year.

But the blissful aura that the note's signature had presented her with quickly evaporated at the realization that she had to stay awake for another hour or so, patrolling the corridors.

Lily sighed heavily, crossly snatching her cloak up from the warm, comfortable-looking arm chair that she so badly wanted to fall into at the moment. She passed the large bay window, glancing up at the gorgeous full moon as she did so.

Then, she stopped dead in her tracks, forgetting all about her annoyance towards James for making her do two nights' worth of consecutive patrolling duties as she caught sight of something outside the window that took her breath away completely.

It was a stag. A majestic, regal-looking stag with tall, imposing antlers. Lily felt something stir within her, and found herself having to resist the urge to smash open the window and run towards the animal. She didn't even question what on Earth a deer was doing out in the middle of the school courtyard at this unearthly hour.

Lily gasped as the stag turned around slowly, until it was facing the window. Lily knew the animal couldn't see her, for the likelihood of it staring at Lily at that precise moment was very low.

But Lily was almost certain that the animal's gaze was directed at herself and herself only, and that it bowed its head just the tiniest bit before disappearing with a swish, leaving Lily to wonder whether or not she'd imagined the whole thing.


	17. Like It Was Meant To Be

Author's Note: This chapter's a bit of a filler, really. It's sort of a transition chapter, and I apologize for its mild dreariness. But the next chapter'll be a bit more humorous; Mary's behavior will improve drastically and The Marauders' witticism and wisecracks will be in full swing.

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

September 28, 1977

"Okay, are you ready for this, Prongs?" Sirius asked James, massaging his friend's shoulders inspiringly.

James took three deep, prolonged breaths. "Padfoot, I think I'm ready."

Remus rolled his eyes. "You'd think he was doing something that was actually worth a massage," Remus scoffed. "Not waiting for his fake date to come down the stairs."

Peter stuck his lower lip out. "I want a massage."

"When_ you_ get your first fake girlfriend to impress the girl of your dreams," Sirius snapped, "let me know. I'll be right over."

"Padfoot," James croaked suddenly. "She's here."

All four heads turned to see Mary MacDonald walking down the stairs alone, glowering and snapping at anyone or anything that got too close to her.

James flinched as she told off a poor, innocent first year that couldn't find the Astronomy Tower.

"It's over there," James said kindly, directing the first year towards the Astronomy Tower before she started crying—she looked close to tears already.

"What's the matter with you?" James asked crossly, as Mary approached them looking severely tested.

Her blonde hair was untamed and looked limp and lifeless—quite unlike its usual bouncy heap of curls. There were dark shadows under her abnormally stormy blue eyes; she clearly hadn't slept a wink. To add to this display of complete imperfection, her usually neat uniform was covered from top to bottom in wrinkles.

Noticing the strange looks she was getting, Mary snapped. "What're you idiots gawking at me for?"

"Not because you looks particularly impressive, that's for sure—_ow_," Sirius groaned, throwing Remus a cranky look as he rubbed the area of his head that Remus had smacked moments ago. "What the bloody hell was that for?"

"For being a total prat," Mary barked, glaring daggers at Sirius Black.

Sirius growled menacingly, sounding oddly like an incensed dog.

Fortunately for Mary—as Sirius Black could get rather nasty when truly angered, although it didn't seem that Mary was going to back down anytime soon—, a diversion arrived in the form of Lily and Alice hurrying madly down the stairs.

"There you are!" Alice said breathlessly. "We were looking _everywhere_ for you!"

"It didn't occur to you to check Great Hall?" Mary asked dryly. "Seeing as it is 7:15 AM."

Lily and Alice both gaped at Mary, seeming thoroughly taken aback by their friend's continual oddly lackluster behavior. Lily opened her mouth to inquire why all the Marauders were staring sheepishly at their shoes, but someone else caught her attention.

"Ms. Evans! Mr. Potter!" McGonagall called from somewhere behind them. "Over here, please!"

Lily didn't seem to have the will-power to groan; for some reason the prospect of spending time with Potter actually relieved her, even if it was only for a few moments. Anything was better than dealing with Mary's peculiar dreariness.

"Yes, Professor?" Lily asked McGonagall.

"All the teachers have been telling me how utterly surprised and pleased they are to find that you two seem to be getting along just fine this year," McGonagall said proudly. "I don't know how this happened, but I genuinely hope it lasts."

Lily couldn't help but notice—and feel rather hurt by—the fact that James looked rather pained and disbelieving at the words 'hope it lasts.'

James approached his friends looking thoroughly put out.

"What's the matter?" Remus muttered, glancing curiously at Lily's wounded expression over James's approaching shoulder.

"It's McGonagall. She says Lily and I are doing great, and that she hopes it lasts," James said wretchedly. "That's not going to last long now, is it? Once Lily finds out…" he trailed off, looking miserable. "C'mon," he mumbled to Mary, and the two walked off to class together, Alice clucking inquisitively their heels.

Peter went off to Care of Magical Creatures—he'd been the only Marauder who'd taken the subject on a N.E.W.T. level. And Sirius, Remus, and Lily began walking to their N.E.W.T. level Charms lesson.

"I saw the strangest thing yesterday," Lily began.

"And what was that?" Remus wanted to know.

"Well, I was leaving my Common Room for extra Head Patrol yesterday because Potter was too much of a git to do this own Patrolling,"—Remus swallowed rather heavily at this—"and I saw a _stag_ outside my common room window."

Sirius stopped suddenly in his tracks, causing Remus to bump right into him and for both to crash headlong into the marble floor. Thankfully, Lily was much too absorbed in telling her tale to notice this.

"It looked so amazing," Lily breathed, eyes glowing. "I've always loved deer. In the woods near my house where I used to spend time with Sev—with my old friend, there used to be loads of them."

Sirius groaned as Remus elbowed him in the gut in his attempt to get to his feet.

"My patronus is a doe, you know," Lily said dreamily. "Wouldn't it be extraordinary if whoever I ended up with after school had a stag patronus? It would be like a fairy tale, don't you think? Like it was meant to be," she continued wistfully.

Sirius groaned again, although whether it was because of what Lily had just revealed to them or because Sirius still lay on the floor in a crumpled heap Remus couldn't tell.

Then again, Remus mused, it could also be because his foot was currently prodding Sirius full in the face.


	18. And The Secret's Out

Author's Note: I apologize for my lack of updating; I've just been immensely busy these past few weeks. On a happier note, this chapter is so, _so_ important!

Oh, and by the way, I'm planning on going back to my previous chapters and editing them for spelling/ grammar because as I was reading them—I cringed quite a bit while doing so, mind you—, I noticed quite a lot of errors and I genuinely want to make my story fault-free.

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

September 28, 1977

Alice grabbed Mary's wrist and tugged her in the other direction before she could escape into the security of the Charms classroom. Murmuring an excuse to Flitwick, Alice sharply marched her friend into the adjoining corridor.

"What in the name of Merlin has gotten into you?" Alice snapped in an extremely un-Alice-like manner.

Hiding her astonishment at the way her friend—who usually preferred the coaxing method—was acting, Mary retaliated sharply. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh, you bloody well know _exactly _what I'm talking about!" Alice all but screeched, jabbing Mary in the chest with her wand causing red sparks to shoot out of the tip.

Mary's eyes widened and she stumbled backwards. Alice glared yet more fiercely.

"Al—Alice?" Mary stuttered.

Alice's fierce softened a fraction. "Come on," she urged impatiently. "Just tell me. We're best friends, remember? Do you want me to get Lily, too?"

"NO!" Mary bellowed.

Alice jumped about a foot in the air.

"She _is_ the reason," Mary hissed.

"What'd Lily do?" Alice asked bewilderedly.

"It's not what she did," Mary shook her head. "It's what I'm doing to her."

And she proceeded to explain everything. How "The Marauding Idiots" had chosen her to make Lily jealous, how they'd blackmailed her with the pictures. She finished, taking a deep breath, and almost smiled a little bit at the way Alice's mouth had dropped into a perfect 'O.'

"You're _kidding_."

Mary shook her head glumly.

"Lily'll hate me, won't she?" Mary asked. She'd obviously been worrying about this.

"Now, how can you assume that?"

"It's obvious she's starting to fancy James!" Mary exclaimed.

"Yeah, but if I know Lily, she'll pretend she doesn't like him for as long as she can," Alice shrugged. "I personally think this is one of Sirius Black's better ideas… better than the time he told James to jump of the Astronomy Tower to impress Lily, at least."

Mary snorted. "And he almost did, too. What a prat."

"So, you're alright, then?" Alice questioned, surveying her friend's features anxiously. She did look a little less pale, and her old amused grin seemed to be making its way back onto her face.

"Yeah, I guess I'm fine. You'll cover for me, won't you?" Mary asked in a mock-serious voice. "You'll help me write my will incase Lily pulls the old 'Avada Kedavra' on me?"

"Oh, hush," Alice admonished lightly, rolling her eyes and giggling a little. "No one's going to kill you."

* * *

Sirius flicked his wand for the seventh time across the room, sniggering as Snape gave yet another cry of alarm while his wand flew out of his hand.

"Sirius, will you pay attention?" Remus said crossly, rolling his eyes as Sirius burst into peals of boisterous laughter watching Snape's wand pirouette out of his firm clutch yet again and out the open window. Snape gave a shout of dismay and hurried to the window, half his body leaning out as he anxiously searched for his lost wand.

Sirius raised his wand, presumably to save Snape the trouble of allowing the other half of his body out the window as well, but—

"Don't you dare," Remus growled, eyebrows knitting.

"Alright, alright," Sirius said, holding his hands up in defeat. "Keep your hair on, Moony." Sirius stared at Remus's hair for a moment. "Even the grey ones."

Remus hissed menacingly at Sirius.

But Sirius was no longer paying attention. He was grinning hugely, eyes following the weary-looking form of Severus Snape across the room.

Remus sighed resignedly. "If only you applied yourself this much to your schoolwork…"

Sirius pointed his wand at Snape's back again and muttered, "Expelliarmus." This time Snape, who'd been the middle of successfully charming his raven, gave a loud roar of rage and spun around, glaring murderously from one Marauder to the other.

However, even as Snape's wand fell on the floor next to Sirius's foot with a clatter, Sirius seemed to be very much engrossed in his work, bent over the bullfrog he was charming today. But anyone who was close enough to him was able to see the tiniest hint of a smirk upon his handsome face.

Lily, who was sitting in front of Sirius, swiveled around in her seat and threw him one of her prize glares. "I know it was you, Black."

"Whatever are you talking about, Lily darling?" Sirius asked innocently.

Remus chuckled lightly under his breath, and Sirius grinned reluctantly; apparently being able to make Remus Lupin laugh was the highest obtainable honor.

Lily shook her head in disbelief. "Really, Black? I didn't think it was possible for a seventeen-year-old boy to be _this_ immature—,"

"What about James?" Sirius wanted to know, raising an eyebrow.

Lily blushed a little and muttered something along the lines of, "He's different."

And as she bent down to pick up Snape's wand, Remus and Sirius exchanged a look which plainly said, 'She's got it bad.'

Severus Snape approached their their side of the room looking positively beside himself. He cast Remus and Sirius furious looks—which Remus ignored and Sirius answered with a cheeky grin. Lily held his wand out to him, not bothering to meet his eyes as she gave Sirius one more heated glare for good measure and leaned over the animal on which she was practicing silencing charms.

But Snape, in all his eagerness to receive his wand from his ex-best friend, swiped at it far too quickly, an action that Lily evidently didn't miss. She stared at the retreating form of Severus Snape with a mixture of anger, disbelief, and defiance.

"I meant," she said in a rather carrying voice. "You were doing it all wrong, Black. Here, let me show you." And with that, she snatched up her wand and pointed it directly at Snape.

"Expelliarmus," she spat.

And Snape's wand soared out of his hand for the tenth time during that class and he cursed savagely and, quite unfortunately for him, immensely audibly as his wand made its way into the air and plummeted downwards, hitting Professor Flitwick precisely between the eyebrows.

Many of the students could be seen chortling as a purple bruise began forming on Flitwick's tiny forehead, and Sirius was grinning widely as the usually even-tempered professor reprimanded a cowering Snape severely.

"Nice one, Evans," Sirius cackled, watching triumphantly as Snape walked back to his seat looking thoroughly put off.

If Lily had been in a fitter state of mind, perhaps she would've been a bit less keen on taking a compliment from Sirius Black—who had a reputation of being the most troublesome boy ever to grace the halls of Hogwarts—to heart, but, as it was, Lily was feeling rather proud of herself.

"Thank you," she said with a satisfied sort of grin.

Before Remus and Sirius had the chance to voice their surprise at Lily genuinely accepting Sirius's words of praise, the door swung open and Alice Prewett and Mary MacDonald walked in, twenty minutes late to Charms. Flitwick shot them both disapproving glances and shook his head disappointingly as they both hastened to a seat—Alice next to Lily, and Mary—unexpectedly enough—next to James Potter.

"Where in Merlin's name have you been?" Lily asked Alice as the latter pulled out her wand looking rather pleased with herself.

"Oh, nothing," Alice shrugged, clearly trying to look nonchalant about her late arrival, but not doing a very decent job.

Lily raised an eyebrow at Alice and glanced across the room at where Mary was digging through her uncharacteristically disorganized bag. On the other hand, she did look a bit more cheerful and Lily was sure she could see a ghost of a smile lingering on the girl's face.

"Mary looks happier," Lily noted.

"Er, yeah, she is," Alice said, wishing that Remus and Sirius hadn't both suddenly craned their heads around to stare visibly at Mary. Merlin, they were making the whole scam so painfully obvious.

"Why's she sitting next to _James_?" Lily frowned.

"Oh, haven't you heard?" Alice asked, not meeting Lily's eyes.

"They're dating," Sirius nodded.


	19. Operation Lily Potter: Phase One

Author's Note: Wow, I need to update at a more consistent rate. I'm sorry, it's been a while, and I hope I haven't lost your attention. Teachers are just hurling homework at me and my classmates, and I sincerely apologize for the inexcusably long wait.

Anyway, I'm not a big fan of this chapter, to be honest. Lily's reaction is alright, I suppose, though I do wish I'd made it more humorous. I'll make it up to you by attempting to make the next chapter a bit more lively.

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

September 28, 1977

Lily's wand fell to the floor with a clatter, but her expression remained impassive. "What?"

"James and Mary," Sirius said slowly and clearly, enunciating every syllable. "Are dating now."

Remus rolled his eyes; Lily turned to him, expecting him to chastise Sirius for telling such vicious untruths. But he did nothing of that sort. He merely continued with his work, humming to himself as he charmed his raven green.

"Is this some sort of joke?" Lily burst out, half-incredulous, half-annoyed as she waited for one of her three acquaintances to erupt into peals of laughter and say, "Just yanking your wand, Evans!"

"No," Sirius gave a convincing frown. "Why should you think that?"

"Because you're Sirius Black," she shrugged, as if this was explanation enough. Apparently it was, for even Sirius nodded thoughtfully.

"But I'm not joking this time," Sirius said firmly. "Even Alice knows I'm not."

Lily, Sirius, and Remus rounded on Alice expectantly. She blushed a little, not being the most skillful person under pressure, but nodded nonetheless. "He's not lying," she said resolutely with an air of finality in her tone.

Lily's eyes widened at her friend's words, but looked still suspicious as she bent down and picked up her wand from the floor.

"You still don't believe us," Sirius said. It was statement, not a question, and Lily knew full well that it was very much true.

Lily opened her mouth to agree, but Sirius was too quick for her.

He jerked his head in the direction of the classroom where James was sitting. Lily felt quite nauseous as she watched James slowly loop an arm around her best friend's waist; Mary scooted closer, giving him a soppy, slavish look which Lily had never dreamed she would one day see on Mary's face.

Hot tears were threatening to spill. Not because she_ fancied _Potter or anything, she assured herself, wiping furiously at her eyes. But because Mary had betrayed her. Betrayed her for Potter. Never again would she call him _James_.

She threw herself back into her seat, shooting a covertly murderous glance in the direction of her best friend and fellow Head.

"Well," Sirius said mock-cheerfully and in a low voice so that only Remus and Alice could hear him. "That went swimmingly."

He promptly received two blows to the head.

"Ow."

* * *

"This is disgusting," Mary groaned, making a face as James snuck an arm skillfully around her waist.

"Just go with it," he urged.

"But people are staring," she whined, glaring wrathfully at a Slytherin boy who was staring, unabashed, at the couple's public displays of affection with a raised eyebrow.

"Is Lily?" James asked hopefully.

"I don't know," Mary snapped. "I'm not going to turn around and look. Why don't you see for yourself? You spend about three hours a day gawking at her anyway."

James paled, but a pink tinge was appearing on his cheeks. "How—,"

"Please, James," Mary rolled her eyes. "If you're going to gape at Lily in the common room, make it a little less visible."

There was a pause. Then James asked, "Are you sure Lily's not looking at us?"

"How in the name of Merlin should I know? If you think I'm going to crane my head round to see whether Lily is currently watching us, then you're a flobberworm. She's right in front of you," Mary hissed. "All I know is that Snape's looking as if Christmas has come early," she observed, watching the sallow-skinned boy grinning jubilantly at the sight of the newest 'couple.'

James swiftly looked up at where Remus and Sirius were sitting with Alice and Lily and looked down just as quickly. "She looks fit to kill," he murmured.

"Who, Lily?" Mary asked.

"No," James said mockingly. "_Alice_. Because _she's_ the girl I've been secretly pining for since I was fourteen."

"I don't know so much about _secretly_," Mary snorted.

James seethed.

"What do you want me to do?" Mary snapped again. "I can't _make_ Lily like you."

"Act like you're in love with me," James advised, glancing up again at Lily, who now, unknown to the oblivious James Potter, was looking close to tears.

Mary gave him an exaggeratedly adoring look. "How was that?"

"Perfect."

James looked up again just in time to see Lily hurl herself moodily into the seat beside Alice. Apparently, everything was going according to Sirius's plan.

"Phase one of Operation Lily Potter is complete," James smiled, satisfied.

"_Lily Potter_?" Mary spluttered, evidently disgusted.

"What?" James asked defensively. "We both know that'll be her name one day. Besides, who doesn't want to be a Potter? Unfortunately, everyone can't be as devilishly good-looking and charming as we are."

Mary stared at him, left eye twitching with untold disbelief.

"If Lily does marry you," Mary said at last, "I'm going to beg her not to change her last name if it's the last thing I do."


	20. Confrontations and Celebrations

Author's Note: Again, a bit of a filler chapter, really, this one. And it's disgustingly short, too. But I'm a bit exhausted at the moment and couldn't think of anything better. But one thing is certain—Lily is _pissed_. I promise, I'll try harder for the next chapter.

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

September 28, 1977

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Mary had been expecting it. In fact, she'd hoped to leave the Charms' classroom a tad earlier than everyone else just to avoid this particular confrontation.

Unfortunately for her, luck hadn't favored this wish. And she found herself on the receiving end of a penetratingly chilling glare, courtesy of Lily Evans.

"Tell you what?" Mary asked, deciding that playing dumb was the best technique in a situation like this.

"Oh, don't play stupid with me," Lily screeched shrilly. Professor Flitwick cast a concerned look in their direction before scuttling nervously out of the classroom, shaking his head at the peculiarity of females.

"Lily," Alice walked up to them, tentatively placing a reassuring hand on Lily's shoulder and exchanging an aghast look with Mary. "Lily, calm down."

They'd witnessed Lily's temper plenty of times—even been the one to which it was directed—, but never, _ever_ had they seen Lily lose control like this. It was quite unnerving.

"Don't tell me to calm down, _Prewett_," Lily hissed and Alice recoiled, taking a few terrified steps backwards.

"Don't you start on her now—," Mary began, but stopped at a warning glance from Alice. Apparently arguing wasn't the best initiative when Lily was in this state.

"Why didn't you tell me, Mary?" Lily asked again, narrowing her eyes at Mary. "Just answer me."

"What do you bloody want to know, Lily?" Mary asked, throwing her hands in the air exasperatedly. "Tell you _what_?"

"Why did it _not_ cross your mind to tell me that you and James Potter were _dating_?" Lily spat.

Mary's first immediate impulse was to deny it, and she opened her mouth to do just that. She and _James Potter_? _Dating_? Absurd. But then she remembered, thanks to an urgent look from Alice, that she and James Potter were _indeed_ seemingly dating.

"Er," Mary hesitated. "Well, we are… dating." The words felt sharp in Mary's throat, and she realized, not for the first time, just how much she hated saying them.

"Thanks for stating the obvious," Lily said coolly, giving an unthinking tremble as the image of James slipping an arm around Mary's slim waist flashed across her mind.

"Why does it bother you so much?" Mary wanted to know, quirking an eyebrow questioningly.

_Because James Potter fancies me! _Lily thought to herself, almost instantaneously chiding herself for thinking in such a manner. Since when did she care what Potter thought?

Since they'd become Heads together and started to get along? No… no, it didn't matter. But Lily couldn't help but feel rather distressed as she came to the conclusion that maybe, just maybe all of those attempts at getting herself to date him didn't mean anything to Potter at all.

* * *

"Brilliant, Prongs!" Sirius clapped his best friend on the back. "A stunning performance back there in the classroom. I applaud your acting skills."

James grinned proudly, feeling rather content with how his and Mary's acting had come off.

Even Remus gave a grudging smile; despite his original criticizing of Sirius's plan, it did seem to be working rather well. He'd seen the envious look on Lily's face watching James and Mary portray a hopelessly-in-love couple, he'd seen the way she'd kept shooting them wrathful looks the remainder of the class. If Sirius's plan was to actually work out the way he'd planned it to, it did seem to be going in the correct direction.

"Wormtail!" Sirius called Peter over and flung an arm around the shorter boy's plump shoulders.

"Yes, Padfoot?" Peter inquired, rather flattered by the sudden attention Sirius was paying him.

"Run down to the Kitchens for me, will you?" Sirius said, eyes twinkling. "I think it's time we celebrated Prongs's first step in winning Evans over with the helpful services of my secret Firewhiskey stash."


	21. When In Doubt, Dance It Out

Author's Note: A bit of light-hearted fun. What happens when you mix Marauders, firewhiskey, and Celestina Warbeck's music? This chapter.

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

September 28, 1977

The four Marauders stealthily tiptoed down the staircase, keeping an eye out for any nosy Hufflepuffs who might be making their way in the opposite direction.

They were all squeezed under James's cloak, and as three of them were quite tall, there was much whining, complaining, and one extremely carrying cry of anguish as Sirius trod quite firmly on Remus's foot.

"Now we're even," Sirius said with certifiable smugness. "I still haven't forgotten how you squashed my face flat."

Remus just sighed wearily, taking a swift look around, and reaching out just as quickly to tickle the large green pear that was emblazoned on an enormous portrait of a bowl of fruit in front of them. The pear squirmed and giggled reluctantly, immediately morphing into a green doorknob.

Remus reached out, tugging at the doorknob, and it opened, revealing a warm, cozy looking kitchen. Four long tables were settled in the middle of the room, mirroring the four house tables that the Marauders knew sat a floor above them.

The four boys automatically walked towards the one all the way to the right of the room, only to do a double-take.

Someone was already sitting there.

She stared at the wall opposite her with a sort of vacant expression on her face, clutching a tall goblet in her right hand. She ran a hand tiredly through her lifeless, blonde curls, sighing.

Slamming the goblet onto the table forcefully and cursing fluently under her breath, the girl uttered one word to the nearest house elf. "More."

James, Sirius, Remus and Peter exchanged looks of raised eyebrows and disbelief before scampering up to the tables themselves and taking a seat.

"'S the matter, MacDonald?" James asked, sitting down across from her, neither bothering to question what the other was doing at the kitchens at this particular hour.

Mary turned to look at him uninterestedly. Her face was swollen, eyes red, but a crooked smile curved her lips. "Lily."

"Oh?" James asked perplexedly.

"She's gone a bit mental," Mary shook her head, shuddering. "And I don't mean the regular on-and-off Lily temper. I mean _furious_."

"But why?" Sirius asked complacently. "Why should she be mad?"

"I asked her the same thing," Mary explained with a wry smile.

"And?" James asked interestedly.

"I could practically hear her brain whirring next to me," Mary gave a cynical laugh. "But in the end she threw some rubbish at me about how it was a betrayal of trust and whatnot."

The four boys exchanged triumphant looks. "I swear, it's just a matter of time, now," Sirius said, leaning back on his arms. Remus gave him a gentle push, wearing a purely innocent expression while doing so, and Sirius Black toppled to the ground with a cry of rage.

Ignoring the scuffling of his two friends, James went on, "So, what are you doing here?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Mary asked, face brightening as the house elf brought back her goblet. James glanced at it; it was filled to the brim with Firewhiskey.

"You know that's Sirius's Firewhiskey, right?" James asked offhandedly, pointing to the goblet that Mary was swiftly draining.

Momentarily setting the container down on the table, Mary shrugged and slurred, "So? If I've been given the explicit permission to '_hang out_' with the Marauders, I should be able to drink from their stash."

"Fair enough," James chuckled, hailing an elf and requesting a goblet for himself.

Mary suddenly got to her feet, swaying dangerously, goblet still clutched in hand.

"Whoa, there," Sirius laughed, grabbing the tipsy girl by the shoulder before she quite well collapsed to the floor. "Steady on, yeah?"

Remus just rolled his eyes. "I don't know who _you're_ kidding, Padfoot. We all know that'll be _you_ in a couple minutes."

And as if right on cue, a goblet of Firewhiskey was brought to Sirius on a silver platter. Grinning from ear to ear, Sirius grabbed the goblet and downed it in one.

And, quite predictably, he burst into exuberant choruses of Celestina Warbeck's cheesiest love song.

James and Remus winced as Sirius tried to hit a particularly high note and failed miserably, producing a sound that both boys never, _ever_ wanted to hear again. Even the House Elves stopped their work to stare, aghast, at the seventeen-year-old, undeniably awful, singer.

But the biggest shock came when Mary began to sing.

All four Marauders gaped at her, not in the least expecting it. But it was happening. They could see it with their own eyes.

And truthfully, she didn't sound half bad.

She actually sounded… amazing.

"And now you've torn it quite apart," Mary sang, throwing a hand up in the air dramatically and giggling at the utter ridiculousness of it all.

"I'll thank you to give me back my heart!" Sirius finished, tossing his goblet into the air, and breaking into some very appalling dance moves. Next to him, Peter was desperately attempting to imitate them.

James thankfully caught Sirius's discarded goblet with a lazy flick of his hand, and with a grin and a roll of his eyes in Remus's direction, he got up to join the now three dancing maniacs in their frivolous gamboling.

Remus watched his friends losing it, shaking his head and torn between amusement and incredulity.

"C'mon, Moony," Sirius laughed raucously, grabbing the young werewolf by the arm and pulling him to his feet before he could protest. "Loosen, up!"

And so the five danced and laughed merrily, not even aware that somewhere on their left several very confused Hufflepuffs were pressing their ears to the wall of their common room, trying to place the source of this dreadful sound... or that several floors above them, in the Heads' Rooms, a red-haired girl sat on her bed, knees tucked to her chest, trying to understand the extremist that was James Potter.


	22. A Subtle Truce

Author's Note: I was listening to Akon's 2008 hit song, _Right Now_, while writing this chapter. And suffice to say, it helped tremendously. I'll probably be listening to the same song for the next chapter since they're both related to the same concept.

The general hope of these next two chapters is to initiate something resembling a truce—yes, not an _actual_ truce—between Lily and James. Hence the song _Right Now_. Also, I really want Lily to realize her feelings; well, we shall have to wait and see whether that happens or not.

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

December 15, 1977

Autumn faded into winter in a flood of N.E.W.T.-related student labor and numerous Head Patrols. Normally Lily loved winter; she loved the insanely cold weather, loved the Christmas spirit, loved the warmth that the Gryffindor common room provided at this icy time of the year.

But this year was anything but normal for Lily.

And she found herself unable to enjoy any of these things.

She just couldn't contain her burning rage every time she saw Mary walk by, laughing boisterously with the Marauders

Lily's hands would clench into fists and she would seethe to the point of almost spitting with anger. Alice would roll her eyes, shaking her head exasperatedly.

Alice and Mary were still talking; they, luckily, didn't have some sort of stony silence settling over their relationship. And Lily knew—although she wouldn't tell Alice how, for she didn't want Alice to know that she had spent fifteen minutes eavesdropping outside the Gryffindor girls' dormitories, while simultaneously trying to pluck up the courage to talk to Mary—that Mary had cried to Alice one night.

Lily couldn't, for the love of Merlin, understand why _Mary_ had shed tears over the swift split in her friendship with Lily. Mary was the one who'd initiated it! Yes, Lily was adamant that it was Mary's fault that she and Lily were apparently going their separate ways.

Although, sometimes Lily just couldn't bring herself to believe that she and her best friend had lost their friendship over a _boy—_James Potter, no less.

Speaking of Potter, Lily seemed like she just could not get him off her mind. She found him popping up increasingly in her dreams in a most… _questionable_ manner. And McGonagall already reprimanded her about three times in every transfiguration class for excessive daydreaming. Worse, one time she'd actually asked Lily what she was thinking about.

Lily didn't think she'd ever blushed more than she had then.

Sighing tiredly, Lily grabbed her red and gold scarf up from its hook and threw it around her neck as she hurled opened the door to the Heads' common room for patrolling.

Lily froze.

James was standing before her, one arm raised; he'd obviously just been about to fling the door open himself. Lily's eyes took in the way his cheeks were flushed from Quidditch practice, the way his hair was even scruffier than usual, they way his hazel orbs were looking downwards, not meeting her penetrating gaze.

It was then that Lily realized that she hadn't spoken to him at all for days, weeks even; she sometimes even forgot that they shared a common room. For the amount of daily contact they had, one probably wouldn't have been able to perceive that they were Hogwarts Heads together.

Lily had just decided to ignore him altogether and leave the common room without sparing another look in his direction, when he—most astonishingly—grabbed her hand.

She braced herself, knowing that the pleasantly electric feeling she felt every time he touched her would soon arrive.

And arrive they did.

They felt a million times more powerful than they had the first time.

Hardly daring to believe the fact that Potter was holding her hand, she hesitantly looked up, letting their eyes lock.

"Lily," he smiled warmly. "I feel like I haven't talked to you in weeks."

"That's because you haven't," Lily said crisply, almost immediately regretting it. If this was Potter's attempt at reconciliation, she really wasn't handling it too well.

James looked momentarily taken aback, an uneasy expression briefly flickering across his rather handsome face.

"Where're you off to?" he queried, spotting the scarf draped around Lily's shoulders and the snug, travelling cloak she was wearing.

"Head's Duties," Lily frowned.

Did Potter even _glance_ at the Patrolling schedule pinned to the bulletin board in their common room? Lily wondered whether James Potter even carried out his share of Patrols. Maybe he expected her to do them for him. Just like he apparently expected her to readily forgive him for being such a prick these past few weeks.

"Oh."

Oh? _Oh?_ Lily narrowed her eyes. Not even a 'Good luck, Evans' or an 'I'll do it for you, Evans. Remember how you did a double-shift for me that one time I was too much of a twat to do my own?'

"Well," James said, cowering slightly at the deadly look Lily was giving him. "How about we forget about patrols today and you come have a quick drink of Butterbeer with me at the Three Broomsticks Inn?"

Lily completely forgot about the surge of anger she'd felt when James had said "forget about patrols today." A mix of emotions welled up in her at once, but shock seemed to dominate.

"A d—drink w—with you?" Lily stammered, unable to believe her ears.

"Yes," he nodded, the vaguest of smiles curving his lips. Raising a hand, he executed the habitual ruffling of his hair.

And for one indistinct moment, Lily wanted more than anything to reach up and tousle it, too.

Shaking away such ludicrous thoughts from her head, Lily drew herself up to her full height and crossed her arms. "But what about Mary?" she asked, surveying him with utmost curiosity. "Won't she be bothered?"

"Bothered?" James shrugged obliviously, quirking a clueless eyebrow. "Why should she be?"

"Because—" Lily struggled to find the right words. Why _would_ Mary be upset if she and Potter went for a drink? It was not like Lily and Potter were or ever had been anything more than friends. In fact, at this point, Lily felt like they were much, much less.

"Well, if you don't want to come," James began uncertainly, and Lily saw, with a jolt of glee, his face fall at his own words.

"No," Lily said quickly. Too quickly. Her face reddened as she tried to cover up her rash interjection. "I _do_ want to come."

James looked infinitely pleased.

"But," Lily gave James a confused grimace. "How do you expect us to get us into the Three Broomsticks now? Not even _you _could manage that. It's not a Hogsmeade weekend—,"

"You forget," James interrupted with an enigmatic wink. "That being a Head has its benefits. And the freedom to wander into Hogsmeade at any moment as long as it's before curfew is one of them."

And on that mysterious note, he swept out of the Heads' Rooms with a whoosh, leaving Lily to suppose that _perhaps_ James was a lot slicker than she gave him credit for.

"Well, come on then," his impatiently eager voice sounded from outside the room after a moment's silence. "We haven't got all day, you know."

Perhaps not.


	23. Winter Showers, Budding Lovers

Author's Note: Erm, hello, anyone there? I feel like such a prick for not even attempting this story in so, so long. I hope you don't hold it against me.

Anyway, great news! Lily will, _for certain_, sincerely realize her changed feelings towards James in the next chapter. There's no doubt about it. I'm planning on making it a bit of a fun-filled chapter, actually. And the chapter after the next one is... (drumroll please) SIRIUS BLACK'S BIRTHDAY.

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

December 15, 1977

This was a dream. It couldn't be real life.

Because in real life, Lily Evans would've never _willingly_ agreed to have a drink with him.

Yes, in real life, Lily Evans would've probably slapped him hard across the cheek for suggesting that they skive off duties and get a _drink_.

James was positive that any moment now he would wake up to Sirius infiltrating his private dorm in the Heads' Rooms and hitting him hard with a pillow, while blaring loudly in his ear whatever music was on the Wizarding Wireless Network at the time.

Perhaps he should pinch himself.

James glanced to his left, where Lily was, in fact, walking awkwardly beside him, clasping and unclasping her arms with uncharacteristic timidity.

James pinched himself. Hard.

"Ow!" he exclaimed at the top of his voice, rubbing furiously at the part of his arm which he had just strained.

Lily jumped. "What happened?" she asked urgently. "Are you okay?"

James raised an eyebrow. Was that… _concern _he heard in her voice?

"Oh, it's noth—nothing," James stuttered, a pink tinge appearing miraculously on his cheeks. "Pinched myself."

It was Lily's turn to raise an eyebrow, but, quite sensibly, she didn't question his reasons for deliberately injuring himself.

"So," Lily said, crossing her arms and hugging herself to keep warm—it was an unusually chilly winter night in Scotland. But no snow had fallen yet. It was quite strange, actually, but Lily supposed it was only a matter of time. "How've you been keeping yourself?"

"Keeping myself…?" James trailed off, mind reeling as snippets of the past few months played over in his head—unsurprisingly, all of them seemed to include Mary. "Okay, I suppose. Been spending a lot of time with Mary and Alice… you're never around anymore."

Lily, who'd let out an unwilling shiver of fury at the revelation about him spending plenty of time with her two best friends—even if one of them hadn't spoken to her in over two months—, softened considerably at the words 'you're never around.'

"Well, I've been busy, you know… N.E.W.T.S., Heads' Duties, and whatnot."

"Hey, I've been doing both of those as well, and I still find time to have fun," James shrugged.

Lily decided it was best not to voice her surprise at the fact that Potter actually did his Heads' Duties. "Fun's not really something I make time for these days," Lily admitted, twirling a lock of her deep, auburn hair unconsciously around her finger.

James sputtered in disbelief, shaking his head with mock-disappointment. "Tonight's the night, then."

And before Lily could protest, James had grabbed her hand and whisked her away. Soon, they were flying down the pathway, out the gate, and into the bright, warm-looking village of Hogsmeade.

"Where are we going?" Lily asked, unable to keep the energy and exhilaration out of her voice as she and her fellow Head tore down the village street. James gasped for breath, coming to a stop in front of the Three Broomsticks.

"This is it?" Lily scoffed, staring at the cozy pub which he had visited many times in the past. "This is your idea of fun? I've been here loads of times-,"

"No," James shook his head, chuckling. "This is just the first part." And he flung open the door, kindly allowing Lily inside before going inside himself.

"James Potter, my little devil!" a sultry voice exclaimed from a corner of the pub. And Lily looked up to see the landlady of the pub rushing up to greet James with astonishing enthusiasm.

"Hi, Rosmerta," James said casually, settling himself down at the counter and gesturing for Lily to sit next to him. Lily went, feeling slightly out of the loop.

"It's been a while since you and your pals came down here for a late night drink," Madame Rosmerta chuckled as she pulled out two glasses. She looked expectantly around the pub. "Where are they?"

"Up at school, I'd expect," James smiled. "It's past their curfew."

"Oh, yes," Madame Rosmerta beamed, showing off her perfectly aligned, spotlessly white teeth. "Head Boy, aren't you?"

James nodded proudly, hand mechanically reaching up to pat the badge on his cloak.

Madame Rosmerta then glanced at Lily, looking her up and down. "Is this the girlfriend?"

Lily blushed, looking down.

"Er, no," James shook his head, looking suddenly jittery. "The g—girlfriend's up at school right now, too. This is Lily Evans."

"But," Rosmerta frowned. "Isn't this the girl—,"

Lily's head snapped up sharply, brow furrowing questioningly at the troubled face of James Potter, which was gleaming in the candlelight, emphasizing his chiseled features.

Rosmerta, meanwhile, had stopped short at a covert, warning look from James. Clearing her throat pointedly—but looking confused all the same—, she asked, "Now, what would you two like tonight?"

"The usual… we'll be ordering out tonight, though, Rosmerta," James said.

Lily, who'd been pretending that the conversation between Rosmerta and Potter was not bothering her in the least, looked up at this. "We are?" she spoke for the first time since she'd stepped into the pub.

"Yes," James said firmly.

Lily watched Rosmerta bustling through her small kitchen silently, her brain brimming with many different thoughts. She suddenly felt very lost and disoriented. Like she'd missed out on a lot. Perhaps she had. She had rather spent the last two months shut up in her room, with only the occasional getting together with Alice. As for Mary, well, Lily didn't want to think about it…

Shifting her gaze over to the boy on her right, Lily gave an exhausted sigh. If only things could go back to the way they had been before.

"Are you okay?" James's voice brought Lily back to Earth. "You seem a little bushed."

"I'm fine," Lily gave a weak smile as she and James made their way out of the pub, and began walking down the street. "Yeah, I suppose I am a bit dead beat."

"Nothing a bit of enjoyment can't fix," James said with certainty, and Lily couldn't bring herself to correct him.

"Where exactly are we going?" Lily panted after minutes of walking the street, which was steadily increasing in elevation, and surveying her rather dark, unfamiliar surroundings warily. She wouldn't put it past James to take her somewhere absolutely terrifying and call it "fun."

"You'll see," James smiled happily.

Lily was beginning to feel as if agreeing to James's idea had been a complete mistake. As she took in her new, overcast, civilization-lacking environment and the warm lights of the village that were getting smaller and smaller behind her, Lily couldn't help but remember the last time she consented to one of Potter's plans. A mental image of two teenagers rushing down the halls under an invisibility cloak with a furious caretaker at their heels occurred to Lily.

She gulped. "It is… _safe_ isn't it?"

"Of course it is," James brushed her concerns aside with a wave of his hand. "Padfoot and I come here all the time."

This did nothing to aid Lily's nerves.

"We're nearly here now," James said animatedly. "Okay, close your eyes."

"Potter," Lily said, rolling her eyes exasperatedly. "This is ridiculous."

"Fine," James said impatiently. "I'll close them for you."

A large, warm hand shut out all sight from Lily's eyes. She let out a small scream, stumbling backwards, expecting to fall with an excruciating crash onto the gravel below.

But she didn't.

A firm hand wrapped around her wrist and pulled her upright. Lily shivered violently with pleasure; the same tingling sensation was spreading up her back. Eyes still squeezed shut—not that it mattered with James's hand over them—, Lily admonished in a shaky voice, "Potter, you complete arse! I could have fallen—,"

"Not you couldn't," James interrupted calmly with, Lily supposed, his stupid, little smirk on his face. "I would've caught you."

Speechless, Lily felt herself turning red. Mumbling incoherently under her breath, Lily whined edgily, "Are we here yet, Potter?"

"Yes," Potter said, failing miserably at masking his oh-so-obvious ecstasy as he removed his hand from above Lily's eyes.

Lily gasped.

"Oh my…"

"Brilliant, isn't it?" James declared proudly, watching Lily very intently, keenly awaiting her reaction.

It was a lake. But it didn't look like a regular lake. The water was an immaculate crystal clear and lapped with grace against the sides. An eerie but strikingly bright fog hung around the treetops and an icy wind elegantly rustled the leaves. Lanterns floated magically near the tree's branches and their luminosity reflected on the lake, lighting up the entire thicket.

"Yes," Lily breathed, stepping forward and slowly rotating around, taking in her breathtaking setting with admiration. This was exactly the kind of place that she loved. It reminded her of… home. The good times when she used to sneak out at night and sit by the Cokeworth Lake—a lake rather like this one—with Severus for hours, just talking. The good times when she and Tuney used to go ice-skating at the lake with their parents, singing Christmas carols loudly as they pirouetted round and round. "You and Black found this?"

"Yeah, with Moony and Wormtail," James said merrily, sitting down by the lake and pulling out two bottles of butterbeer from within his cloak.

He handed one of them to Lily, who took it gratefully, making her self comfortable beside him. The drink seemed to fill her with an inner heat, and so Lily was feeling quite contented until, a few minutes later, something hit her lightly on the top of her head.

Lily glanced sideways at James, who was frowning, almost to himself, looking up at the sky bewilderedly.

"Did you feel that?" she asked him, putting a hand up to her head only to feel nothing.

"Yeah," he said, mirroring her actions. "What was it?"

It happened again. And suddenly, what seemed to Lily and James like buckets and buckets of water, fell down upon them.

"Merlin!" Lily screeched, jumping to her feet.

"It's raining!" James gave a strangled yelp. "In winter!"

The lake, which had been so pristine and peaceful moments earlier, was threatening to overflow as water from above them crashed mercilessly into it.

"We have to get out of here," James declared.

"Thanks for notifying me, Potter," Lily snapped, trying in vain to shield herself from the showers. "I had no idea."

"Now's not the time for your sarcasm, Lily," James cried desperately. "Come on," he grabbed her hand wildly in the darkness and pulled her down the treacherous-looking the path.


	24. Until Now

Author's Note: New chapter at last! I'm sorry it took so long, but once again, I found myself with severe writer's block and whatnot. Not to mention the fact that I've been super busy this past week.

Anyway, I know a lot of you have been waiting for this chapter. I hope I did it justice.

And, to all my faithful readers out there, the next chapter is... SIRIUS BLACK'S BIRTHDAY! So hold on to your hats... you're in for a wacky ride.

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

December 15, 1977

"I swear to Merlin, James Potter, I'm going to kill you," Lily screeched as she sprinted hysterically through the rain, down the narrow, crooked path which was steadily decreasing in altitude.

James remained silent, inwardly cursing the abrupt change in weather. Why couldn't _anything_ go as planned when it came to him and Lily?

Was it too much to ask for, instead of a severe downpour, a gentle snowfall?

And if rain was the solitary option, why not a mellow, life-giving drizzle?

"I mean it," Lily continued snappishly. "This was the stupidest—_AH_!"

There was a snapping sound followed by a resounding crash, and suddenly Lily was gone. James stopped dead in his tracks, swiveling around as he looked frantically around his dark surroundings, utterly petrified.

"L—Lily?" he stuttered in terror.

There was no response. All was silent but for the steady beating of rain upon himself and the ground around him.

"Lily?" he repeated anxiously. "LILY? LILY—,"

A feeble moan from somewhere on his right caught his attention. He turned sharply around, eyes fighting to widen in spite of the rain hammering so vigorously onto his deathly pale face.

"Lily, where are you?" James called out.

There was another weak moan from his right side.

With a jolt, James remembered that his wand was tucked safely away in his pocket. Thrusting his hand fervently into the depths of his cloak, James extracted his wand and almost bellowed, "Lumos!"

Crouching down so that his nose was almost touching the wet gravel of the ground beneath him, James shone the his lit wand around him, eyes keenly searching out the flash of a brilliant green eye or the sight of a moist lock of copper hair.

Suddenly, something fastened firmly around his ankle, causing him to very nearly hit the ground and emit an unflattering shriek. He managed, however, to stay on his knees and he frenziedly swung his head around in order to see what was holding on to his ankle so forcefully.

"Lily!" his voice cracked with sheer joy. Rain and relief trickled down his back as he spun around, tenderly prying Lily's firm, but freezing, fingers off of his foot.

He let out a massive gasp as he caught sight of Lily's face, which was smeared completely with mud. Bits of dried blood clung helplessly to her cheeks.

"No," he mourned, grabbing one of Lily's cold hands. "No, Lily, please don't be out cold, please don't—,"

"I'm not out cold, you git," a faint but petulant voice retorted, and James's heart leapt as Lily's eyes flickered open and her bright green orbs rolled exasperatedly. She made to get up, but her knees buckled and she stumbled right into James's arms yet again.

"I can stand up by myself, Potter," she hissed half-heartedly.

"Actually, I don't think you can, Evans," James gave a lopsided grin, his voice lined with just the lowest possible bit of complacency. "I think we both know where you'd be if I let go of you right now."

"I—I, I'd be—," Lily spluttered angrily.

"On the ground, yeah?" James chuckled.

Lily let out a menacingly frustrated growl.

"Alright," James declared, the smallest of intuitive smiles tugging at the corners of his lips. "Let's get you up and out of here."

"What—,"

But before Lily could form coherent thoughts, she was being lifted into the air, her cheek being pressed against something warm, and her body being shielded almost delicately from the torrential rain.

Lily gaped as she found herself moving—but not of her own accord—down the path, which was progressively becoming closer and closer to civilization. She could see the still-bright lights of Hogsmeade Village just a trivial distance away.

"Potter—Potter—are you… _carrying_ me?" she inquired incredulously, lifting her head to look up at the face of the person whose arms enclosed her. Sure enough, James Potter's calm, reassuring face greeted her and the mere sight of it made Lily shiver violently.

"Are you cold?" he asked, looking down at her worriedly.

"I—no—," she fumbled for words.

Lily didn't feel cold at all. In fact, truth be told, she'd never felt warmer, safer, or more content in her life.

"You're freezing, aren't you?" James stated steadfastly as Lily gave another intense shudder of pure pleasure. "Here—,"

And then Lily was being crushed into the most comforting embrace she'd had in a long time. Her cheek was pressed firmly against the James's chest and she snuggled closer to him, desperate for the warmth that he provided her, and completely forgetting, in that moment, that she was in the arms of someone else's man.

Lily smiled impulsively as James babbled on about Merlin-knew-what, as he gallantly carried her past rows and rows of Hogsmeade buildings, through the school's main gates, and up the path. Rain was still pouring earnestly down upon them, but Lily paid it no heed.

She was intently studying James and the way his hazel eyes lit up as he spoke about Quidditch and how 'Gryffindor was going to crush the competition' in their quest for the cup.

She took in the way his ebony hair, despite the fact that it had practically been submerged in a vat of water, still stuck stubbornly up at the back.

She observed the way his words melted into almost… _charming_ laughter whenever he talked about something senseless that he and Sirius had gotten into.

Her lips twitched into a larger smile, almost to the point of her beaming like an idiot.

And perhaps she felt the need to demonstrate this newly acquired idiocy, for the very next moment she blurted out, "You're beautiful."

James stopped midspeech, eyes going as round as the very quaffles he'd just been describing moments earlier. Lily's hands fluttered to her mouth and she stared at James, completely taken aback with herself.

"I—I'm what?" James stammered, as if not daring to believe what he'd heard.

Lily did some extremely quick thinking. "You—you're b—_being_ a_ fool_," she improvised.

James raised an eyebrow shrewdly, apparently not about to be outsmarted. "That's not what you said before."

"Ye—yes it is!" Lily argued fiercely.

"No," James smirked. "You said I was be—,"

"Being a fool, exactly," Lily snapped firmly.

There was a small pause in which James Potter's smirk widened. "Whatever you say."

Lily blushed, wanting nothing more than to kick herself for being so foolhardy. _Beautiful?_ Had she really said that? _Out loud?_

_But moreover,_ Lily gulped disbelievingly, _hadn't she been completely honest when she'd said that?_

She had. She knew, deep, deep down that she had.

She'd meant what she'd said.

And Lily knew something else now, as well. Something that terrified her to no end.

She fancied James Potter.

Perhaps it'd been coming for some time, now. Lily really didn't know. All she knew was that it was—there was no question about it—true.

Lily wanted to scream, really she did; she was beginning to fully fathom the remarkableness what she had just discovered. Just months earlier she would've laughed out loud at the prospect of fancying James Potter. _James Potter_, the arrogant toerag.

But, Lily had to admit, he really wasn't that arrogant anymore.

Sure, there was the occasional complacent smirk and the occasional egotistical ruffling of his hair.

But other than that… yes, James Potter had… changed. Something about him was different this year, but Lily just couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was.

But James Potter wasn't the only thing that had changed this year.

Lily's feelings for him had, too.

She'd known all along that it had. From the moment she'd seen him that September, probably.

But she was Lily Evans after all.

Lily Evans never succumbed to something this ludicrous…

…until now.

A sudden wave of warmth hit Lily like a rock and light pierced her tired eyes.

"Wha—where are we?"

"Hogwarts," James said simply, letting out a barely audible sigh of relief.

"Finally," Lily breathed, suddenly comforted by the sight of the familiar entrance hall.

James began walking down the corridor, Lily still lying securely in his arms.

"James," Lily frowned. She paused fleetingly, realizing that this was the first time she'd uttered his first name in months. "You're going the wrong way. The Heads' Rooms are that way," she flung an arm behind her, gesturing to the space they'd just covered.

"Heads' Rooms my arse," James snorted, continuing nonchalantly down the hallway. "You're soaked through. I'm taking you to the Hospital Wing."

Lily had neither the sense nor the energy to argue. "But James," she protested feebly. "Madam Pomfrey will murder us—," she stopped short, yawning hugely.

"Don't worry about it," James assured her, though his voice was laced with uncertainty. "We'll be fine."

Lily nodded, eyes flickering shut as sleep overtook her mind.

James smiled vaguely at the sight of the sleeping Head Girl in his arms as he flung open the doors to the Hospital Wing. The room was pitch-dark and James almost fell over in his haste to pull out his wand.

"Lumos," he mumbled for the second time that day. "Madam Pomfrey? Madam Pomfrey, are you there—"

"Potter?" a woman's incredulous voice inquired.

The room was suddenly flooded with luminosity as the numerous lanterns on the walls of the large room lit up one by one.

Madam Pomfrey gasped, hurrying forward. "What in Merlin's name have you two been doing? Is that—,"

"Lily Evans, yes," James interrupted. "She's been soaked through—,"

"I can see that," Madam Pomfrey shook her head with utter disbelief as she and James set Lily gently down on the nearest cot. "How did this happen?"

"She—er—we," James coughed guiltily, running a hand through his drenched hair. "We got caught in the rain."

"I'm not even going to ask," she muttered numbly, bustling around the room and summoning different potions.

"I'll be going now," James addressed the matron after a minute of watching her tend to Lily. "I'll be back tomorrow to check up on her—,"

"You'll do nothing of that sort," Madam Pomfrey rejoined at once, looking at James in alarm. "Have you looked at yourself in the mirror? You look as bad as poor Miss Evans. You'll be spending the night here as well, sir—,"

"But—,"

"No exceptions," Madam Pomfrey finished curtly, fixing James with a stern look.

And so, two minutes later found James tucked into a cot beside Lily's. Fighting the urge to fall asleep right then and there, James turned his head to gaze for a moment at Lily's peaceful form. Her eyes were closed, making her look rather angelic, and the smallest of utterly sweet smiles lingered on her lips.

"I'm sorry," James murmured, shifting uncomfortably.

He yawned widely and squinted in his desperation to stay awake.

"I'm sorry for how today turned out. If I had a chance to change it, I would, Lily, believe me…"

And then he too fell headfirst into the folds of sleep.


	25. Choke–Worthy Shocks

Author's Note: I'M BACK! I'm so sorry this chapter took me so long! Honestly, I am. I was just completely overwhelmed by Writer's Block, and I... I just lost inspiration completely. I'm truly sorry.

But I'm back now! With some Marauder fun! IT'S SIRIUS'S BIRTHDAY! Feedback is very much appreciated.

Oh, and speaking of feedback—you guys are the _best_! Despite the fact that I hadn't updated in weeks, reviews for this story just kept coming! Thank you, my lovely readers! You genuinely inspire me to write more.

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

December 16, 1977

Silvery moonlight was glowing palely through the windows, and the bitter silence of the cold winter's night that it was hung intensely around the Gryffindor seventh-year boys' dormitory.

The four Gryffindor boys' resting figures could be seen on the four beds in the room. All was calm; the only sounds that could be heard were the gentle pitter-patter of rain against the large dormitory window, and the gentle rise and fall of the sheets that outlined the sleeping forms on the beds.

Suddenly, one of the sleeping boys woke up with a start and sat up bolt right in bed, massaging his stomach with a frown on his face. His name was Sirius Black.

Pushing his crisp, white sheets off of his body, Sirius slipped soundlessly out of his bed and tiptoed stealthily across the room to the bed opposite his.

Taking a deep breath, he poked the possessor of the bed—Remus Lupin—rather forcefully in the stomach. Grunting, Remus rolled over in bed, muttering contentedly under his breath. "Mhmm… chocolate."

Sirius raised an eyebrow at his friend disbelievingly, feeling that for a boy his age, he should be dreaming of _girls_ rather than chocolate.

Remus had always been quite a strange individual.

But then again, Sirius really wasn't one to talk.

Coughing pointedly and as loudly as he could muster, he jabbed Remus again in the gut, this time with even _more_ vigor.

Remus's eyes flickered open and he ran a hand tiredly through his mousy brown hair, a spectacularly intense frown surfacing on his face.

"What do you want?" he snapped, noticing Sirius standing expectantly over his bed.

"I'm hungry."

Remus rolled his eyes and shifted, turning his back to Sirius. "Eat slugs, Padfoot."

There was a pause as Sirius contemplated this. Slugs really didn't sound very appetizing to him.

"Please, Remus," Sirius begged in a whiny voice—one to rival that of a spoiled five-year-old child.

"What do you expect me to do, Padfoot?" Remus inquired snippily. "I can't magic you any food. It's one of the five exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration—,"

"Yes, _Professor McGonagall_," Sirius interrupted mockingly. "Save it for Transfiguration class."

Remus turned around to glower fiercely at Sirius.

"Please, can you just come to the kitchens with me?" Sirius begged again.

Remus stared incredulously at Sirius for a second, as though waiting for him to burst into laughter and exclaim, 'Just messing with you, Moony!' But when he didn't, Remus snorted. "Not a bat's chance in hell, Sirius Black. It'll take more than a little _pleading_ to get me down to the kitchens at one o'clock in the morning."

"But it's my birthday!" Sirius invented wildly, trying to generate some form of pity from his ocher-haired friend. Suddenly, Sirius gasped. "Wait a second—,"

He virtually flew over to his four-poster bed and leapt onto it, fumbling frantically with the calendar that he had posted on his headboard; pictures of bikini-clad women graced the various pages. He flipped madly through it, smoothing it out so that the month read 'December.' Sirius let out a deafening whoop of joy at the sight of his little today marker, which was undoubtedly attached to the little box with a clear, black '16' in the corner.

"Moony!" Sirius called in a sing-song voice, leaping out of his bed and landing quite marvelously onto Remus's.

Remus let out a bellowing cry of alarm, tumbling deftly to the ground with a resounding thud. He landed at the foot of Peter's bed, and, in an attempt to get to his feet, ended up yanking Peter's sheets completely off of him. Peter squeaked shrilly in terror—sounding peculiarly like a frightened rat—and scrambled quickly out of his bed, running swiftly to the closest one and plunking his pudgy body down on it, while, in the process, kicking the peacefully sleeping owner precisely in the face. Frank Longbottom let out an uncharacteristically feminine shriek and, eyes snapping open, hollered, "Alice!"

Sirius, who'd been watching the chain reaction that he'd created with a bemused half-grin on his face, let out a bark of laughter at Frank's outburst. "Now, there's a smart lad," he addressed Remus. "Having a clearly _interesting_ dream about his girlfriend… and what were you dreaming about, Moony? Oh, that's right, chocolate." Sirius rolled his eyes laughingly at Remus, evidently unfazed by the vehemently venomous glares he was receiving from every single one of his fellow roommates.

"Sirius Orion Black," Remus hissed in a fear-inflicting, threatening voice. "What in the name of Merlin's saggy left—,"

"Language, Moony," Sirius admonished, eyes twinkling.

"Don't you 'language' me, Padfoot," Remus retorted, springing to his feet. "Why on Earth did you dive on to my bed like a foolish little toddler?"

"Because," Sirius grinned maniacally, throwing Remus his choicest arrogant look and performing a saucy flick of his rakishly windswept hair to go with it. "It's my birthday today!"

Remus stared uncomprehendingly at Sirius for a good minute before blurting out, "So, _what_?"

Sirius sighed, apparently disappointed by Remus's dim-wittedness. "So," Sirius explained. "You just _have _to come to the kitchens with me."

"If you think I'm coming down to the kitchens with you after you nearly broke my leg, then you're a flobberworm," Remus snapped irately, climbing back into his bed, mumbling mutinously under his breath all the while.

Sirius tried again. "Please—,"

"So you _are_ a flobberworm," Remus declared airily. "I should've guessed it. You have the same intelligence quotient level as one."

"You know," Peter began thoughtfully. "I'm feeling pretty hungry. I wouldn't mind a trip to the kitchens—,"

Remus narrowed his eyes wrathfully in Peter's direction as a delighted Sirius Black hurried across the room to where Peter was still settled peacefully on Frank's stomach, much to the latter's perceptible displeasure. Sirius flung an arm around Peter' shoulders, and propelled the plump boy to his feet, throwing Remus a smug glance.

"Why how absolutely lovely of you, Pete," Sirius announced in a sickly-sweet, carrying tone of voice. "You know, I hear the house elves made some delicious _chocolate_ éclairs yesterday, and they always bake me a scrumptious, triple-layer, _chocolate_ cake on my birthday…"

The two boys made their way over to the door of their dormitory, only to come face-to-face with a very familiar looking sandy-haired seventeen-year-old, who was wearing an utterly nonchalant expression on his weary face.

"Remus?" Sirius inquired smoothly, a shrewd edge to his voice. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm going to the kitchens, of course," Remus shrugged, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Did you know? They made some mouth-watering chocolate éclairs yesterday…"

And with that, he swept out of the dormitory with a wide smirk plastered on his face.

Sirius stared after his retreating form. "Now's not the best time to tell him that I was lying about those éclairs, is it, Wormy?"

* * *

Five minutes later found the boys sitting at the mock-Gryffindor table in the kitchens, munching contentedly at bars of Honeydukes' finest.

Sirius sniggered as Remus stuffed a whole bar of chocolate into his mouth, expression dreamy as he let the sugary, succulent substance flow down his throat.

"Wha'?" Remus asked defensively, huffily crossing his arms in a very un-Remusish manner.

"Oh, nothing," Sirius said flippantly. "You should have told me you were hungry, Remus, I would've offered to take you to the kitchens like the _good friend_ I am."

Remus scoffed. "If _I_ ever woke you up in the middle of the night because I was hungry, Padfoot, you would've shot me covertly icy looks for the entirety of the following day and rambled on and on about how I 'lost you your beauty sleep.'"

Sirius's indignant splutter was interrupted by Peter.

"It feels a bit odd without Prongs here, you know," Peter thought out loud, popping a bit of chocolate into his mouth and chewing pensively. "We've never come to the kitchens without him before."

"Such a trivial problem," Sirius derided with a carelessly frivolous wave of the hand. "I'll get hold of him for you."

And he pulled out a small square-shaped mirror from his pocket.

Remus groaned. "Haven't these mirrors caused enough trouble already, Padfoot?" he wanted to know, remembering their escapade aboard the Hogwarts Express on their first day of their seventh year. "Besides, it's about one-thirty in the morning. He's probably asleep—,"

Ignoring his friend's protests, Sirius spoke clearly into the mirror, "James."

There was a pause as all three friends stared at the mirror, expecting James Potter's excited face to appear instantaneously.

But nothing happened.

Sirius frowned deeply, holding the mirror so close to his face that his nose was almost touching it's reflection.

And Remus was left to suppose that if one hadn't known better, it would've appeared that Sirius was snogging his own mirror image. Not that that was a terribly surprising thing with an ego as large as Sirius's.

"James Potter," Sirius said again, this time with an added sharpness to his voice. "James Charlus Potter."

Still nothing happened, whatsoever.

"Padfoot," Remus interjected as Sirius began roaring James's name at the top of his voice. "Padfoot, _calm down_, I'm sure James is just fast asleep—,"

"No," Sirius said suddenly, and Remus was stunned to hear a distinct note of panic in his friend's voice. "James _always_ replies. I don't… I don't…" he trailed off, looking by far more upset than Remus had ever seen him before. "I think something happened to him, Moony."

"Oh, come off it," Remus shook his head disbelievingly. "What could have possibly happened to him—?,"

"Check the map," Sirius stared stonily at Remus. "I _know _something happened to him. I just_ know_."

Remus sighed resignedly, pulling out a relatively decaying piece of parchment from his dressing robe. Tapping it with his wand, Remus murmured, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Scrutinizing the materializing map with an significantly furrowed brow, Remus let out an audible gasp as James Potter's name came into view.

"What?" Sirius queried urgently, blanching at the excessively pale colour of Remus's face. "What is it?"

Remus looked up at Sirius with a horrified expression emerging upon his face. "He's in the Hospital Wing."

Sirius choked on his chocolate.


	26. Easier Said, Than Done

Author's Note: I'M SO SORRY. I promised myself that I would start updating this story regularly, but I didn't. And I'm sincerely sorry for my lack of updating. The past month has been like some sort of whirlwind, what with finals and such. In fact, I'm surprised I even got this chapter done at all. In any case, I'm ecstatic that I finally got it done.

About this chapter, I'm sorry if it's a bit dull to you. Just a lack of spirit on my part. But I'm slowly getting back into Pride and Prejudice mode. I'll try and make the next one better. Also, I've created a vague storyline for the rest of this Fanfic. So, in other words, I've planned how this will end.

Also, I've been going through the previous chapters of this story, and editing for mistakes and whatnot.

Alright, so chances are, you don't remember what's been going on in this story in the recent past. Let me just recap— _James and Lily went out to Hogsmeade for a night of relaxation, upon James's urging. But then, a sudden downpour caused their plans to be upset, and James ended up carrying an exhausted Lily back up to Hogwarts, which resulted in Lily realizing that she truly fancies James. Meanwhile, Sirius, Remus, and Peter had gone down to the Kitchens for a late-night snack, when they found out—courtesy of the Marauder's Map—that James was in the Hospital Wing. They rushed there immediately, and._..

The rest will be revealed in this chapter. Also, in case you don't remember, Mary—one of Lily's two best friends—is pretending to date James, so that Lily would get jealous and realize her feelings for James. This plan, so far, has been successful. However, this plan also caused Mary and Lily's friendship to deteriorate immensely.

Feedback is very much appreciated. :)

And without further ado...

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

December 16, 1977

"PRONGS!"

There was a resounding smash and a brilliant flash of light, which was closely followed by a flutter of hushed, admonishing whispers.

James Potter's eyes snapped open, and he suddenly sat bolt right up in bed. He barely had a moment to register his rather unfamiliar surroundings before something solid and distinctly furry bounded up to his bed and started licking his face fanatically.

"Eurgh!" James exclaimed rather piercingly, pushing the wooly creature off of him at once, and eyeing it with evident disgust. "Padfoot, get off of me, you tosser."

James blinked repeatedly in attempt to determine his current situation through the darkness that was currently enveloping him.

"Why are we all standing in the dark?" a recognizably shrewd voice inquired. "Here—Lumos."

A wand-tip flared, illuminating the hall with fairylike light. James blinked again. Two boys —one of which was holding up a lit wand—and one immensely hairy, massive black dog were clustered around the foot of his bed, gazing up at him intently, all sporting expressions of deep concern.

James grinned at the sight of them, although he stopped almost immediately. For some reason, it hurt to smile.

He stared around at his environs. It was not the usual tiny, cozy one-man bedroom that he habitually woke up in. Looking more closely, he realized he was in the Hospital Wing, and that he was currently encircled by a collection of vacant hospital cots, all of which were lined with crisp, white linen sheets and embellished with plump, spotless pillows.

Glancing to his right, he resisted the urge to yell out in utter alarm as the sight of an _occupied_ bed met his eyes. The inhabitant of the bed had their back turned towards James, and also had the covers pulled up past their head, so that not a single part of their body was exposed, but for one lock of deep, copper-red hair.

James gasped as everything came back to him. Taking Lily to Hogsmeade, getting caught in the rain with her, her disastrous fall, _carrying_ her back in the torrential downpour… the smallest of smirks curved his lips.

"James!" someone snapped their fingers in front of his face and proceeded to jab him unkindly in the abdomen. "Knock it off."

"Ow!" James snapped brusquely out of his reverie, turning back around to face his friends while massaging his abdomen with a severe frown on his face. "What was that for?"

"For being a total prat," Sirius explained, apparently having transformed back into his regular self. "Why on Earth didn't you tell us you were sick—?" Sirius abruptly stopped his ranting, and followed James's gaze to the neighboring bed. "Is that _Evans_?"

"Yeah," James muttered vaguely, mind still reeling with vignettes of the night's occurrences. He could practically hear Lily's oddly infatuated voice ringing in his ears, _You're beautiful_. His smirk widened considerably.

Sirius gaped from the James's bizarrely smirking expression to the sleeping outline of Lily Evans, expression one of sheer bewilderment. "Alright, mate. I need an explanation here. What in the name of Merlin have you two been doing?"

"I'm with Padfoot on this one, Prongs," Remus spoke, his gleaming wand still held aloft. "What's happened to you? You look… dazed."

"That's one way of putting it," James sighed, wincing as he rubbed his sore neck. Every part of his body seemed to ache from his sluggish, exhausting walk in the horrendous mizzle.

With every bit of strength he could muster, James managed to push himself slightly further upright and regarded his friends with an air of distinct embarrassment.

Remus gazed at him suspiciously, arching his eyebrows in a way that made it certain that he wasn't going to be satisfied until he got a reasonable explanation out of James. "What've you done this time, Prongs?"

"I haven't done anything wrong," James said defensively, although looking profusely guilty while doing so.

"Yeah, right," Remus rolled his eyes, crossing his arms guardedly. "And I'm a flobberworm—,"

Sirius interrupted good-humoredly, "I thought _I_ was the flobberworm—,"

But Remus quelled him with a staid glance. "James, seriously, what on Earth has been going on?"

James glanced from one unsmiling expression to the next, feeling ultimately irritated. What he'd done wasn't _that _dreadful or anything. I mean, Lily had, without a doubt, enjoyed herself that night… before getting soaked through and falling disastrously, at least. James shivered mildly at the thought.

Finally he spoke, "Er— well, you see, last night, Evans and I went out for a drink at the Three Broomsticks…"

And so James told his three best friends of his _infinitely _action-packed evening. He told them how he'd taken Lily to their beloved lake for a late-night thrill, told them how she'd been very much enthralled by the stunning location, told them about the unfortunate weather, told them how Lily had fallen and had needed to be carried back to school, and finally, he told them about what Lily had let slip as he'd conveyed her back to Hogwarts.

The shock was very much evident on of his three boys' expressions as James concluded his story. Sirius's eyes were as wide as saucers, Remus's mouth hung open completely, and Peter's eyes kept flicking from his three friends' expressions, as if wondering whether he should feel shocked or humored by James's seemingly impracticable account.

There was a charged silence as Remus, Sirius, and Peter absorbed everything that James had affirmed in the previous minute.

Finally, Sirius spluttered. "She called you… beau—_beautiful_?"

James turned to him, a gleeful smirk plastered to his extraordinarily thin, pallid face. "Yep."

Remus shook his head, looking very much mystified. "And you're sure this was Lily and not—I don't know—some member of your fan following in disguise?"

James childishly stuck his tongue out at Remus. "Yes, it was Lily."

The shocked silence continued for another agonizingly gauche moment.

And then—

"YES!"

James, Remus, and Peter jumped violently as Sirius virtually hurdled into the air with ecstasy.

"What the—,"

"You see?" Sirius demanded shrewdly. "You see? I knew it. I knew my plan would work! I knew Evans would become jealous of Mary. And you guys thought I was off my rocker!" And with that, he began executing an eccentric war dance around the Hospital Wing.

Remus and James watched him, nonplussed. "Clearly, we weren't wrong," James sniggered, and Remus smiled.

Sirius ignored the jibe, still foxtrotting miraculously around the expanse whilst chanting, "I proved Moony wrong! I proved Moony wrong!"

"Well, it looks like you made his birthday," James grinned to Remus, flinging an arm around the latter's shoulders. "By being uncharacteristically erroneous."

"Hey, even I can't be flawless," Remus shrugged, and James chuckled, watching bemusedly as Sirius attempted a back flip, but ended up landing spectacularly on his back.

"Do you think she really fancies me?" James asked Remus abruptly.

Remus looked very much caught off guard. "Who, Lily?"

"No," James rolled his eyes scathingly. "You, of course. Who else would I be talking about?"

"Well, actually, there's something I've been meaning to tell you…" Remus began, an amused glint in his eye.

"Shut up, Remus!" James reproved lightly, slapping the ocher-haired boy upside-the-head.

Remus laughed. "Well, honestly, James... I think she does."

But," he continued cautiously, regarding the way James was now beaming idiotically, "I think we need some more evidence before jumping to conclusions."

"More evidence?" James inquired, looking perplexed.

"A direct source," Remus explained, but when James looked still perturbed, he persisted, "What I mean is... we need to hear it from Lily. The cold, hard truth."

There was a moment's respite as James considered this. Then, "I have a feeling that that's much easier said, than done."


	27. The Direct Source

Author's Note: I'm back at last :) Sorry this took so long. I hadn't intended this chapter to take so long, but I got sidetracked by various one-shot ideas that kept gnawing at my brain until I finally decided to write them down and post them.

But I've finally finished this chapter! And I hope to finish the next one by the end of this week (emphasis on 'hope').

Alright, so, again, I thought I'd just map out a little recap for those of you who have completely forgotten what's been happening— _James and Lily went out to Hogsmeade for a night of relaxation. But then, a sudden downpour caused their plans to be upset, and James ended up carrying an exhausted Lily back up to Hogwarts, which resulted in Lily realizing that she truly fancies James. Meanwhile, Sirius, Remus, and Peter had gone down to the Kitchens for a late-night snack, when they found out—courtesy of the Marauder's Map—that James was in the Hospital Wing. They rushed there immediately, and talked to James, procuring the details of his night's adventure. At the end of the previous chapter, Remus confided to James that he genuinely believes that Lily has begun to fancy the latter. But he assures James that in order to confirm this, he needs to hear it from a "direct source"..._

And it continues into this chapter. :) I hope you enjoy!

Also, thank you for getting me to 300 reviews. It means the world to me, I hope you all know that.

* * *

December 16, 1977

"_WHAT?_"

Sirius staggered backwards, colliding painfully with the largest couch in the Gryffindor Common Room, and recoiled under Alice Prewett's knifelike gaze.

"Is this some sort of joke, Sirius Black? Because if it is, I swear I will end you in the most agonizing way imaginable," Alice seethed, inching forward. Her wand was pointed precisely at Sirius's chest.

Mary, Remus, and Peter watched with a mixture of awe and terror as quiet, sensible, sweet-tempered Alice transformed into a raving sociopath. Her hair was disheveled and her eyes seemed to glitter with vehemence. None of the four spectators blamed Sirius even the least bit for trembling slightly under Alice's vicious gaze.

Sirius stared speechlessly at Alice for a rather bristling moment before glancing nervously over her shoulder to his friends. "Why did _I_ have to be the one to tell her?"

"None of us really fancied being hexed into the next century, if you know what I mean, Padfoot," Remus said earnestly, a glint of humor barely visible in his amber eyes. Sirius glowered at him fleetingly before turning back to Alice.

"This isn't a joke, Alice," Sirius confirmed in a sinister voice, eyes flicking down to the carpet.

Alice's eyes, which had seemed to elicit sparks of rage just moments earlier, now beclouded with distress as Sirius's revelation. "Lily," she whimpered. She exchanged a momentarily troubled look with Mary before collapsing to the ground and burying her face in her arms. Mary sauntered over to her, kneeling down beside her, and looping an arm tentatively around her shoulders.

Remus sighed tiredly. "Don't worry, Alice. She's fine—,"

"I have to see her," Alice interjected sharply. "I'm going to the Hospital Wing—,"

"You can't," Remus piped up at once, expression sympathetic. "She's not allowed visitors for another week."

"But you saw James!" Alice's fury returned in full form, and both Sirius and Mary took several vigilant steps backwards. "You saw him last night! I want to see Lily!" Her voice had steadily risen in volume and pitch. The group of five were now receiving multitudinous irritated looks from the numerous other Gryffindors in the common room.

"Could you take it down a notch?" Sirius hissed menacingly. He glanced around the common room, ascertaining that no one was paying attention to their conversation, before shifting his attention back to Alice. His eyes narrowed.

"We visited James in the dead of the night, Alice," Sirius explained with growing anger. "Madam Pomfrey wasn't even awake—it's actually a bit surprising, since we weren't exactly talking in hushed tones. Look, if you want to call in on Lily, then you'll have to find your own way."

Alice swiveled around, her back to everyone else. It was very much obvious that she had burst into silent tears. Mary fixed Sirius with a dirty glare before hurrying towards her friend again, attempting to console her.

"Way to go, Sirius," Remus shook his head. Sheer disappointment was etched all across his rather lined face.

Sirius rounded on him. "Then, next time you want something done right, don't ask _me_, Moony!" he bellowed angrily, flinging his hands up into the air and bringing them down with such velocity that he almost punched Peter in the eye.

A fraught silence fell over the troupe, and Remus was almost glad for the distraction that arrived in the form of the portrait hole to the common room opening with a click.

Remus gasped.

James Potter strolled casually into the expanse, massaging his neck lightly. His cheeks, which had been a deathly pale the previous night, were now filled with color. His black hair was once again affably tousled. And his hazel eyes twinkled as he spotted his three best friends standing in the corner.

Remus blinked, flashing a glimpse at Sirius to verify that he wasn't hallucinating, and that James Charlus Potter had, in fact, just walked into the room looking as though it were just another normal Friday evening.

The gape plastered to Sirius's face notified Remus that he wasn't merely envisaging it—James Potter _had_ just promenaded into the room.

"Prongs?" Remus finally burst out. "What in Merlin's name are you doing here? Madam Pomfrey told us this morning that you wouldn't be out for another week."

"Yeah, well, I convinced her to let me go," James shrugged, beaming at his tawny-haired friend.

Remus looked tactfully doubtful. "When you say 'convinced'..." he vacillated, allowing his words to linger in the air, as he regarded James apprehensively. It was clear that he was conceptualizing a situation which involved James cackling madly as he sprinted away from the Hospital Wing, whilst Madam Pomfrey remained, gagged and tied to a chair in her office.

James rolled his eyes. "She _let_ me go, Moony. Said I was fine..." he expression turned grave. "Lily's not doing so well, though. Pomfrey wants _her_ in for another week...she's having trouble talking. Her throat pretty much conked in the rain last night, and her ankle's severely sprained—," he stopped short, noticing Alice's chary gaze upon him. "What?"

Alice's lips thinned as she surveyed James. "Why was Lily in the rain last night with you?"

James's brows arched. But if he was surprised by Alice's unusually chilly demeanor, it did not carry through to his voice, which remained unequivocally calm. "We went for a walk."

Alice sneered derisively. "A walk! Don't make me laugh, James Potter. Lily hates you."

James's poise vanished. His eyes crackled coldly. "What's wrong with you, Alice? Why are you being such a—?"

"A what? A _what_, exactly?" Alice interposed. She contended each of the Marauders with her arms crossed frigidly, glaring at each of the four boys in turn. "Why is it that _all_ of _you_ knew about Lily's situation before me?"

Her words were met with an uncomfortable muteness.

She continued, "And then Black here,"—she flung an accusing finger out towards Sirius—"just _decides_ to come and tell me that Lily is in the sodding Hospital Wing because she was out in the rain with Potter the previous night. Do you have any idea how much that terrified me? I thought the stupid Slytherins had cursed them both, like they did to Mary last year—!"

"Alice," James cut in, placing a reassuring hand on Alice's shoulder, which she shrugged off instantaneously. "Alice, _calm down_." James put his three middle fingers underneath Alice's chin and pushed her face up pointedly, forcing her to look at him.

Alice looked as though she was about to snarl at him, so James hastily persisted, "Alice, nothing terrible happened. Lily just agreed to go for a walk with me. I didn't force her into anything—really, what do you take me for?"

Alice stared doggedly at James for a second before sighing. "I'm sorry... I—I should've known better—,"

James grinned hearteningly in response.

"But," Alice frowned mildly, looking deep in thought. "But, if it was just a walk, then why is she in the Hospital Wing?"

James paled somewhat, but managed to keep a stoic face. "She—she sort of fell in the rain when we were coming back to Hogwarts." James shifted guiltily from foot to foot, clasping his hands together.

Alice grimaced. "Well, at least you brought her back in one piece."

James's lips curved upwards in a humorless smile. "I did what I had to do. Madam Pomfrey did the rest."

Alice chuckled dryly. The Marauders and Mary joined in.

"James," Alice began, hesitating slightly before pursuing her speech, "is there any way I can see Lily _today_? I don't want to wait a whole week."

James considered Alice thoughtfully, raising a hand to perform the habitual ruffling of his hair before answering, "Well, we can always sneak in, if you don't mind risking a detention. We'd have to go after curfew, though, which ends in a couple hours."

The most fleeting of evanescent looks crossed Alice's face, but it was only for a moment—the next instant, she was back to her determined attitude. "If that's the only way, then I'm fine with it," she declared firmly.

Remus, Sirius, and Mary exchanged astonished contemplations. Never before had they seen Alice this predisposed to execute a plan.

James nodded. "Alright, everyone, let's do it."

Suddenly, Remus stepped forward, bestowing James an emphatic look. "Remember what I said last night," he began, "about needing a _direct source?_ Well, _this_ is the perfect opportunity."

James looked bewildered. "A direct source...?" His eyes wandered to where Alice was standing, tapping her foot impatiently, evidently desiring more than anything else to get down to business. "OH!" James's eyes widened in immediate identification. "Our direct source."


	28. Operation Lily Potter: Phase Two

Author's Note: I had started this chapter AGES ago, under the impression that it would get done soon... *snorts* yeah, that didn't work out, did it? Well, in any case, I'm happy-beyond-words that I finally got around to updating this. I missed Lily and James. :')

I'm currently in the process of writing two other chapter-based Fics, besides this one. And after all three are finished, I've decided I'm going to take a nice, little break before beginning another one. Heheh, just, you know, to recharge my chapter-writing abilities. XD

Alright, and without further ado, here's the chapter. I must say, it was quite refreshing to write in Lily's POV after all this time.

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

December 16, 1977

The corridor was completely silent, but for the soft padding of footsteps upon the marble floor. There wasn't a single soul in sight, and yet, the gentle fluttering of a cloak was just barely visible by the dim lighting of the lanterns in the hallway.

Suddenly, two figures—a boy and a girl—seemed materialize out of thin air. The girl, Alice, was short and somewhat round-faced with shoulder-length, choppy brown hair; whilst the boy, James, was very much the opposite, being tall, wiry, and stalwart, with a head of thoroughly untidy jet-black hair. In his hand, he clutched a cloak of a fluid-like, silvery, shimmering material.

"Alright, I'll keep watch out here—you go talk to Lily, okay?" James murmured, swinging the cloak over his shoulders, so that only his head was visible, apparently floating, independently, in midair.

Alice nodded, and turned towards the Hospital Wing door. Suddenly, James grabbed her wrist, and Alice turned her head, glancing inquisitively at him.

"Don't forget,"—he hesitated slightly, staring somewhat bashfully down at his feet—"don't forget to mention... _me_."

Alice's expression softened, and a sympathetic smile twitched her lips upward. "I will, don't worry, James."

* * *

Lily Evans had been having a truly terrible day, indeed.

She'd woken up in the morning to find that her voice was absolutely gone. She couldn't form coherent words no matter how hard she tried, not that she had tried much after the disastrous first attempt. All that she could manage was a terrible, rasping noise, and one which Lily found to be immensely unattractive.

Furthermore, when she'd finally mustered up enough energy to open her eyes and haphazardly sit up, she looked up just in time to see James Potter's cloak tail swish out of the door to the Hospital Wing.

And that was all it took for the memories of her night out in Hogsmeade with James to flood, quite suddenly, back into her brain. Various instances, all of which involved James carrying her up to the school, played repeatedly in her mind, and Lily just couldn't help but blush when she remembered what had happened the previous night.

She had admitted to herself that she truly thought of him in a romantic manner.

Upon first remembering the self-concession, Lily had quickly dismissed it as a lack of logic on her part. But when multifarious dreams, each portraying her and James in a very—_passionate_—manner incessantly occurred to her each and every time she managed to drift off to sleep, Lily fully admitted defeat.

Clearly, she fancied James Potter.

And, clearly, he just _couldn't_ know about it. Not with Mary on his tail, every minute of every day.

For the next several hours, Lily had killed time by indulging in numerous boxes of old chocolate frogs which Madam Pomfrey had so kindly offered her, evidently sympathizing with Lily's inability to do just about everything.

It was after a particularly large helping of chocolate frogs that Lily's eyes finally began to close, her mind finally began to flutter away from reality, and her body began to relax.

"Lily!"

Lily's eyes snapped open, and she sat up in terror, swinging her arms wildly about.

"_Wuzzgoinon_—," she began in rasping tones.

A hand quickly ensconced her mouth, and Lily's eyes widened in alarm. She immediately began to struggle against their grip, but, her tone came out sounding exceedingly gruff and muffled.

"Lily," a voice hissed menacingly. "_Stop_ that—it's just _me!_ Alice."

Lily stopped resisting at once, turning towards the source of the noise. Alice's brown eyes seemed to glitter in the darkness.

"Lumos," Alice whispered, and her slightly round face was suddenly illuminated by a glimmer of brilliant white light.

For a moment, the two friends simply stared at each other in silence, and Lily couldn't help but vaguely wonder how long it had been since they had spoken to each other. Probably only a couple days, Lily reckoned, but it felt like much, _much_ longer.

"Lily?" Alice murmured nervously. "Are you alright?"

"I'm alright," Lily rasped, grinning sheepishly at the look of horror on Alice's face upon hearing her voice. "As alright as I can be, I suppose."

"Your voice..." Alice tarried off, raising a hand to her mouth in alarm.

"Terrible, isn't it?" Lily shook her head in distaste. "I can't stand talking."

"Don't, then," Alice advised, taking a seat by Lily's feet. "You know," Alice began, after a fleeting pause. "I've been worried sick about you since Sirius Black strolled casually over to me and told me that _you_ were in the _Hospital Wing_—with _James_, no less. I thought you had finally cursed each other into insanity, or something..." Alice shuddered slightly. "I wasn't even allowed to visit you, actually," Alice half-smiled guiltily. "It's an hour past curfew. I snuck down here with—," she stopped short, staring uncomfortably down at her feet.

Fortunately, Lily hadn't notice Alice's cessation in speech, for she was still quite busy marveling at the fact that Alice Prewett had broken curfew, and was sitting in the Hospital Wing with her, at that very moment.

"Where's James?" Lily inquired in a whisper, nodding towards the empty bed on her right.

"Er," Alice frowned, shooting a covert glance towards the slightly ajar door to the Hospital Wing. "He was discharged earlier today, Lily. I'd reckon he's up in the common room with Mary and the others."

"Oh," Lily grimaced in disappointment, immediately chiding herself for hoping otherwise. It wasn't as if he was outside the door, listening to every word they were saying. That was simply _ridiculous_. "It's just..." she vacillated momentarily, twirling a strand of her copper hair in between her forefinger and thumb. "You see, when I was with James last night, down in Hogsmeade... I had this _thought_."

Alice looked suddenly interested. Her head jerked upwards and her eyes brightened. She was conspicuously hanging on to every word Lily was saying. "Go on," she urged.

Lily bit her lip, scratching her head thoughtfully. "Well, it was more of a _realization_... I think—I, well, I _know_—I sort of...er, _fancy_ James." A lump suddenly formed in Lily's throat at the understanding of what she had admitted, and at the sudden awareness that she would probably never, _ever_ win James Potter's affections, again. He was much happier with Mary; and, after all, it wasn't as though anyone in their right mind would miss the absence of a certain redheaded girl—and one who particularly enjoyed sending jinxes in their general direction, at that—in their life. Lily finally looked up, chin trembling ever-so-slightly, meeting Alice's intense gaze.

But, to her utter astonishment, Alice was beaming. "Lily—that's _wonderful!_"

Lily's brows arched in incredulity. "Is this a joke? Alice, he's dating Mary."

Alice blinked. And, in that single instant, she seemed to suddenly grasp Lily's train of thought. "Oh, right," Alice muttered, glancing, once again, towards the Hospital Wing's door.

"Alice, _why_ do you keep doing that? Er, are you alright? You seem a bit... jumpy," Lily said nervously.

As if on cue, Alice jumped in her seat, turning her attention away from the door, and back to Lily. "Oh, no, I'm fine, just fine..."

Lily nodded, not thoroughly convinced. Suddenly, there was a rustle and an irritated cough from Madam Pomfrey's office. Alice turned to Lily, exchanging an look of apprehension.

"Merlin, I'd better get going before Madam Pomfrey murders me," Alice breathed, squeezing Lily's hand before ducking out of view. "I'll come back soon, alright, Lily? _Nox_."

Lily murmured in assent, eyes following her best friend's hunched form towards the Hospital Wing door, and out the small aperture. And, as Alice slipped quietly out, Lily thought she saw the distinct outline of another figure join her. Lily frowned as she closed her eyes. _Perhaps she was imagining things_.


	29. What He Had To Do

Author's Note: Phew. It's been a long month. Honestly, and from the bottom of my heart, I'm sorry for the lack of updates, where this story is concerned. I don't have one big excuse, but, instead, a series of smaller ones (which I'm sure you have no interest in hearing). So, I hope you accept my humble apologies for leaving this hanging.

Anyway, on a happier note, my other two chapter-fics are either complete or on the road to completion, so Pride and Prejudice is my first and foremost priority, in terms of FanFiction. Plus, I am currently on holiday. :) So updates _should_ come faster!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's rather short, I know, but I'm still trying to shift gears and get back into Pride and Prejudice mode. Thank you all for sticking with me!

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

December 16, 1977

Alice held her breath as she closed the Hospital Wing's door gently behind her. From inside, she could hear Madam Pomfrey's crisp, stern voice demanding who had been visiting; she could hear Lily innocently deny Madam Pomfrey's accusations. Alice felt the tiniest twinge of guiltiness as she turned away from the door, but the moment she saw James's beaming face, the guilt vanished.

She grinned at him. "Congratulations."

James punched the air with his fist. "Wow," he sighed. "I—I can't believe—Merlin's beard, this is bloody _brilliant!_"

Alice rolled her eyes fondly, patting James's shoulder. "Good for you, James. And, now...I think we should get back up to the Common Room before someone finds us..." She glanced at her watch. "It's been almost an hour-and-a-half since curfew."

The two began walking up the staircase. As they reached their second landing, a rather disconcerting thought suddenly occurred to Alice. "Er—James?"

James's gaze snapped to her. "Mm-hmm?"

"I was thinking...er, how exactly are you planning on breaking it to Lily that the relationship between you and Mary was a fraud?"

James stared blankly at Alice for a long moment. Then—"I have absolutely no idea."

Alice stifled a snort. "It's just," she began, "I can't imagine that Lily would be too happy if she found out that you were using Mary to make her jealous...as much as she seems to fancy you now, I don't think news like this would...er..._please_ her."

James exhaled gustily, raising his hands up to his head and wearily running them down his hair. "I know, but...but I don't want to pretend like Mary and I broke up or something—I need to tell her that we were never together. I'm not going to lie to her anymore, Alice. I'm not a lowly liar."

Alice gazed at him appraisingly for a moment before nodding in concession. And she had to admit that while James Potter was many things, an outright liar was most definitely not one of them.

* * *

"Thank Merlin you two are back!" Remus Lupin was sitting alone by the Common Room's glowing fireplace, clutching a book in one hand. Upon spotting James and Alice, however, he dropped his book and rushed to greet them. "I was getting worried...so, how'd it go? How's Lily? Did you ask—,"

"Calm down," James laughed, happily flinging an arm about his friend's shoulders as they approached their favorite armchairs by the fireplace, Alice at their heels. Glancing around to make sure no one was listening in, he murmured, "She admitted it! She _does_ fancy me, Moony, she _does!_"

Remus chuckled lightly, glancing at Alice, who gave him a confirmatory nod. "I'm happy for you, mate. But, I've been thinking...have you decided how exactly you're going to break it to Lily that you and Mary—?"

"Alice's just told me about that," James interrupted. Sighing, he leaned back in his arm chair and closed his eyes. "I haven't got a clue how I'm going to do it."

Remus frowned. "I suppose you couldn't just...go right ahead and tell her?" he suggested feebly.

"And get hexed into the next century?" James supplied incredulously. "No...no, I've got to work around it, somehow..."

"Well, whatever you decide to do," Alice shrugged, "hurry up and do it. I don't know whether you've noticed, James, but Mary's getting sick of playing the role of your girlfriend...and if I know Mary MacDonald at all, once she gets close to cracking, she'll flare up and take it out on everyone else."

James considered Alice thoughtfully. "Does Mary hate me?"

Alice's eyebrows flew up her face. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I'm sort of the reason that she and Lily aren't friends any longer...do you think—do you think that they'd be friends again if I just...went right ahead and _told_ Lily that my relationship with Mary was a lie, instigated completely by...me?"

Alice's eyes widened in surprise. "Er—yeah, I suppose. It'd take time, of course, for their relationship to heal after all the damage that you did it to it,"—she flung James a nasty glare, and he looked appropriately chastised—"but...in time, their relationship would become what it was before...or, at least, close to it."

James's expression softened. "Thank Merlin."

Remus's brows furrowed. "You do realize, though," he began, "that...if you do that, you lose pretty much every chance you have of winning Lily over. She'll think you're nothing but a liar."

James's eyes clouded over with poorly concealed distress, but his voice remained even, "If it mends Lily and Mary's friendship—if it makes Lily _happy_, then," he swallowed, "then, I'll go along with it."

Alice and Remus fought to keep their sympathy from misting their expressions as James gazed determinedly up at them, jaw hardening and lips thinning at the realization of what he had to do.


	30. Sorry

Author's Note: See? I wasn't lying when I told you that updates would come faster. :) Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

December 22, 1977

"Lily?"

Lily started, sitting bolt right up in bed and glancing around. She blinked. James Potter was sitting at the foot of her bed.

"How are you?"

Lily simply stared at him. It had been almost an entire week since she'd seen a single Hogwarts student, as Madam Pomfrey had only just announced that Lily was allowed visitors. But, whoever Lily had been expecting as her first visitor, it most certainly was the boy sitting in front of her.

At long last, she cleared her throat. "I'm...all right," she said, reaching up to massage her throat, which was only slightly sore from her night in the rain.

James nodded understandingly, shifting his gaze towards the large window on Lily's left. Lily took this as an opportunity to study his demeanor. She hadn't seen him since their little trip to the neighboring village, and, it seemed to Lily that his appearance had changed drastically since that one day, only a week previous. His usual, sprightly jet-black hair was bedraggled, and the dark circles under his hazel eyes told Lily that he was quite sleep-deprived, indeed.

"Er—James, are you all right? You look...ill."

James jumped slightly, turning to Lily with wide eyes. "What? No...no, I'm doing great."

Lily nodded, feeling foolish. She quickly changed gears. "So...how's everyone doing? I haven't seen anyone since—," she stopped short, not wanting to reveal details of Alice visit, which had occurred an hour after their curfew.

"Since Alice dropped in?" James supplied.

Lily gaped at him. "How—,"

"I helped her get here," James shrugged, lips twitching upward slightly at the disbelieving look on Lily's face.

"I should have known," Lily mumbled, feeling the corners of her mouth curve up on their own accord. "Who else would've so willingly helped her break the rules?"

James laughed. "I can think of a few people."

Lily surveyed him appraisingly. "Oh? And, who are those people?"

"You, for one."

Lily scoffed. "_Me?_ Me, breaking the rules?"

James shrugged his shoulders, eyes twinkling with mirth. "Anyone would break the rules for someone they care about."

Lily opened her mouth to retaliate, but closed it immediately upon noticing the queer expression on James's face. It appeared as though all traces of humor had disappeared—he was gazing at Lily very seriously, almost significantly, and Lily could almost feel the icy retort she had been about to verbalize melt in her throat.

"Anyone?" she squeaked, alarmed by his sinister presence.

"Anyone," he agreed, nodding slowly. His lips were much too close, now, and Lily could almost feel his warm breath on her cheek, almost feel the heat from his body radiating onto her own pale, icy skin.

With a deep, shuddering breath, Lily turned quickly away, scooting backwards ever-so-slightly in her seat. Out of the corner of her eye she saw James look down bitterly, and she had to refrain from bounding forward, flinging her arms around his neck, and kissing him, right then and there. She couldn't—_no_, she _wouldn't_ do that to Mary. Mary, who would be her best friend, no matter that they hadn't spoken in months. Mary, who was dating James...

"How's Mary doing?" Lily inquired curiously.

James's eyes flickered momentarily with anger. "She's fine," he answered curtly.

Lily felt humiliated, frustrated, resentful. What had she done wrong? What had she done to make him so cold, so austere, so sharp...all of a sudden?

She opened her mouth to demand whatever it was that she had done wrong, but James beat her to it. "I'm sorry. I'm—sorry, that was out of line...I've just—,"

"Not been sleeping properly," Lily suggested, glancing pointedly towards the dark, shadowy arcs which encircled James's peculiarly dull eyes.

"No, that's not it," James shook his head. He smiled forcibly. "Well, that's not the half of it..." he vacillated, brows furrowing slightly.

Lily hesitated, wondering whether or not she should urge him to continue. But, when several long moments passed in silence, she tentatively reached forward and touched his hand, causing his gaze to snap instantaneously onto hers.

"Tell me," she said quietly, staring, for the first time, directly into his intense gaze. "Tell me what's the matter."

"I—I..." he stammered, eyes still glued to hers. "I'm sorry."

Lily's eyebrows arched in surprise. "Sorry?" she asked confusedly. "For what?"

"For what you're about to hear," he murmured. And, before Lily could intervene, he'd taken a deep breath, and—"Lily, I want you and Mary to be friends again."

Lily felt her cheeks flush pink. "I know—I want us to be friends again, too, but—,"

"No, wait," James interrupted softly. "Listen...I know why you and Mary aren't talking to each other...and I want you to know that I take full blame."

"James," Lily argued, cheeks reddening further. "James—no, that's not it—it was stupid—,"

"Mary and I aren't dating."

Lily felt numb. "What?"

James nodded mutely, eyes not leaving hers. "We never dated...we're not dating now...and we will never be dating. Ever."

Lily felt her heart begin to pound violently against her chest. What in Merlin's name was he saying? "James, what are you talking about?"

"Lily, Mary's my friend. Not my girlfriend. The whole thing was a...scam. It was a ploy."

"Wh—why?" But Lily wasn't sure she actually wanted to know.

"I love you."

Lily felt her heart stop the moment the words left his lips. She could feel her stomach swirling, sweat gathering on the back of her neck, her mouth drop open in disbelief. Nothing was making sense. "I—what?"

James quickly closed his mouth, as the reality of what he'd just confessed seemed to hit him, full force. "Never mind," he quickly brushed it aside. "Lily—my relationship with Mary was a fraud to make you...jealous."

Every single bit of elation she'd felt a minute earlier, when James had told her that he loved her, seemed to vanish as she grasped what he'd just said.

"_What?_"

"Lily, I wanted you realize it—I wanted you to realize that you felt the same way about me that I did about you—!"

"Well, you were wrong, weren't you?" snapped Lily. Anger was overwhelming her. Everything..._everything_ had been a lie. "Leave, Potter."

James seemed to crumble. "Are you—mad?"

The glare she henceforth bestowed him seemed to clarify his doubts.

"Don't—don't be mad—,"

And, in that single moment, her inhibition was lost. "_How_ can you expect me to not be mad?" she shrieked. "_How? _You're a liar. That's what you are. A liar."

James's eyes clouded with distress. "No—don't say that...I'm not..."

"Stop talking," Lily hissed. "You're not doing any wonders for yourself."

For a moment, James simply stared at Lily, evidently upset. Then, he sat up a little straighter, taking a deep breath. "Fine, you're mad at me...and rightfully so. I accept that," his voice cracked slightly. "Just...don't be mad at Mary. She didn't do anything wrong...she was just trying to help..."

"I'm _not_ mad at Mary," Lily spat. "Why would I be mad at her? She didn't do anything wrong—you probably forced her into the whole, idiotic plan, didn't you? _Didn't you?_"

"I—no—yes...Lily, I love you—,"

But, this time, Lily was prepared. She flung a hand up, stopping him mid-speech. "Leave."

"What?"

"Leave. Leave this room." Hot, angry tears were prickling the corners of her eyes, but she kept her voice even. James Potter would not see her cry.

James slowly got to his feet, still white-faced. But, before he started towards the Hospital Wing's door, he began rummaging through his pockets, producing a thick bundle of parchments. "Homework...that you missed..." he muttered under his breath.

Lily took it without a word, staring at a spot directly above his head.

She waited until James had shuffled completely out of the room before allowing the tears to fall. Impatiently wiping them away, she glanced down at the homework he'd given her.

Her stomach dropped.

There, at the very top, was James's untidy scrawl: _I'm sorry._


	31. Flutter, Flash, Flinch

Author's Note: Things are getting desperate here, with James and Lily! I think every single force in Hogwarts will now try and get them together, at last. XD Anyway, I hope you enjoy this!

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

December 22, 1977

"Have you seen James?"

Mary looked up. Three very anxious-looking Marauders were standing in front of her, eyeing her pleadingly. She frowned thoughtfully. Come to think of it, she _hadn't_ seen James since he'd announced he was going to go visit Lily in the Hospital Wing, half-an-hour previous.

"Er—no, actually…well, he said he was going to go drop in on Lily—," Mary began.

"He's not there." Remus exhaled gustily, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his palms. "We looked in through the window—"

"—and nearly got cursed by Madam Pomfrey for it," Peter pointed out.

Sirius looked the most distressed, his grey eyes wide and panicked, as they flickered across the Common Room.

Mary bit her lip, deep in thought. "Did you check the Great Hall—?"

"Twice."

"The library—?"

"Thrice."

"Owlery—?"

"Yeah," Sirius groused, rubbing a shiny, new bruise on his arm. "And, James's bloody owl decided _I_ was dinner."

Mary stifled a laugh. "Er…how about by the Black Lake?"

Suddenly, all three Marauders perked up, eyes wide. "The _lake_, Moony—why didn't we think of that one?" Sirius grinned widely.

"Padfoot, there's _no_ way we can get to the lake right now." Remus shook his head, sighing. Mary raised her eyebrows; the Black Lake was just moments away. "It's almost time for dinner, and James probably left for Hogsmeade hours ago—,"

"Well, I bet you anything he didn't take the map with him," Sirius said firmly, getting to his feet. "So, we have that advantage, in case it gets too late. James must have just left straight for the village…with the One-Eyed Witch Passage, probably—,"

"Besides," Peter shrugged, "even if we miss dinner, Rosmerta would be happy to feed us, remember? She told us not to be strangers."

Remus glanced from Sirius's adamant expression to Peter's hopeful one. "All right," he said, expression clearing. "Sirius, get the map from James's trunk and meet us by the One-Eyed Witch Passage in five…Peter, come with me…"

Mary watched, nonplussed as the three boys immediately jumped into action; Remus and Peter departed for the Portrait Hole, whilst Sirius bounded up the stairs to the Boys' Dormitories.

_What were they talking about?_ _The village…One-Eyed Witch…Rosmerta…map…_

Mary shook her head incredulously. How was it that the Marauders could take a simple walk to the Black Lake and turn it into a trip to Hogsmeade?

Sighing heavily and stretching, Mary tossed her Transfiguration notes onto the nearby table and got to her feet. She was just about to depart for her dormitory, when a queer sight caught her eye.

A piece of parchment had flitted in through the open window, flapping its…_wings?_ Mary gazed, openmouthed, as the tiny scrap of parchment flapped and fluttered around in earnest, before it landed, gently, on Mary's outstretched palm.

Mary blinked at it for a moment. Then, she unfolded it curiously, eyes widening as she read the message.

_Go visit Lily. She needs you._

Mary stared, feeling stunned, at the note, at the untidy—almost illegible—scrawl. James.

Mary barely thought as she bolted out of the Common Room and down the empty corridor. Her blonde hair rippled violently behind her and her breath came out in jagged pants, but she paid no heed to either. The only thing on her mind was to get to the Hospital Wing, _quickly_.

She swung around the banister and hastened down the first floor, stopping abruptly outside the Hospital Wing. With trembling fingers, she reached out and tugged the door open, taking a deep, shuddering breath as she slipped inside.

James was nowhere in sight. Wherever he had written the note, it wasn't from here. Molly cocked her head to the side confusedly.

Then, Mary saw her, on the lone bed, all the way in the back of the room. The long, wavy auburn locks; the startlingly green eyes, gazing emotionlessly up at the ceiling; the unusually pale face. Mary was torn between rushing forward to hug the girl and dashing back up to the Gryffindor Common Room.

In a split-second, she had made up her mind. Sauntering slowly past rows and rows of empty cots, Mary stopped in front of Lily's, taking a deep breath before reaching out to pat Lily's hand.

Lily jumped violently, gaze snapping onto Mary. Her mouth fell open. "Mary?" she croaked disbelievingly.

Mary gave a feeble, uncertain smile as she slowly sat down on the foot of Lily's bed. "Hi," she said softly. "How are you?"

"I—I'm—fine." Lily shrugged with a visibly strained nonchalance.

Suddenly, Mary's mind reeled, racing through various moments, to a different time. A time when Lily Evans wouldn't have hesitated to tell Mary what was on her mind. A time when Mary was Lily's sole confidant. A time when Lily Evans and Mary MacDonald were best friends.

And, as Mary's eyes swept over Lily's pale face and forced smile, she realized that she missed that time more than she had ever missed anything in her life.

She pressed her lips together, nodding slowly. "Good."

There was a moment's respite in which Lily managed to prop herself up on her bed. Then, a very uncomfortable silence fell.

Mary's gaze fell down to her shoes. There was no point staying here any longer. James was wrong; Lily didn't need her. They had grown too far apart…the large tear in their relationship could not be sewn back together…the damage was beyond repair—

"Mary, I know."

Mary looked up at Lily. "You know—what?"

Lily's voice was soft, just barely audible. "I know that your relationship with James is a fraud."

The shock was so hit her so violently that Mary had to clutch at the bed's footboard to keep from tumbling off.

And, suddenly, she understood everything: the look of nervousness on James's face when he'd announced that he was going to the Hospital Wing to see Lily…the flashes of intuition that had crossed Alice's and Remus's expressions at his revelation…the reason James was missing.

Lily _knew_.

The apologies came tumbling out. "Lily—I—I'm so sorry. It was the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life…you don't know—they _blackmailed_ me, Lily—," Mary stopped short, burying her face in her hands.

When she spoke again, a moment later, her voice was somewhat composed. "At first, I bore it…it was no big deal…because, well, it seemed to be working…" Mary bit her lip. "Then, everything got out of hand…and, you wound up in the hospital wing, and—,"

"Mary, I don't blame you…James admitted that you did it against your own will—that you did it because you wanted us to be together."

Mary nodded fervidly, reaching forward to squeeze Lily's hand. "You know I would never hurt you, Lily. You were my first friend."

The smallest of smiles surfaced on Lily's face. Then, it vanished, just as quickly as it had come. "But, his plan…it's not going to work, now, is it? I won't be able to look at James in _that_ way, _ever_ again."

Mary's head shot up, eyes wide. "What are you talking about?"

"The whole thing was a game, a quest to get me date him." Lily scowled. "And, we were both pawns in it."

For a moment, Mary simply gazed at Lily, blinking rapidly. Then— "Lily, you have absolutely _no_ idea what you're talking about."

"Oh, don't I?" Lily demanded.

"Lily, James cares for you more than anything," Mary said quietly. "I know it. I think—I think you need some time to…figure it out…it wasn't a game at all…it was desperation. This is both of your last years at Hogwarts. James realized, it was now or never."

Lily looked at her, bewildered. "I—what?"

"James loves you, Lily."

Lily's eyes grew wide with realization. "I—I know that…he told me, when he visited."

Mary drew in a breath, sharply. Clearly, James had had a _lot_ on his mind when he'd come to visit Lily. "He did? What did you say?"

Lily's composure seemed to shatter. Her voice shook. "I told him that I—I didn't care."

Mary flinched.


	32. Dissendium

Author's Note: The next few chapters all go together! And, very soon now, James and Lily will FINALLY become a couple. :) Anyway, I'm sorry for the delay with this chapter. I hope you enjoy it!

ALSO: Just wanted to let you all know: I am currently running The "True Colors" Competition over at HPFC. I would love it if you took a look, and, hopefully, decide to enter! The link is as follows: forum . fanfiction . net/topic/44309/61001893/1/

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

December 22, 1977

"Wormtail, I swear to Merlin, if you kick _one_ more stone at my arse, I will hex you," Sirius's irritated voice floated through the crisp, evening air.

Sirius, Remus, and Peter were stumbling down the path to the Hogsmeade Lake. Sirius headed the troop, his illuminated wand held aloft. His jaw was clenched, his expression determined, but there was an entirely unfamiliar panic in his expression which showed, quite clearly, his fear that they would not find his best friend sitting by the lake. Behind him, walked Peter, looking horrified with himself. His arms were clasped to his side, and he stared after the stone he'd just kicked with a very guilty expression on his face.

Remus trailed distractedly behind them, lost in thought. His mind was reeling with several vague thoughts, all of which related to the same topic: James.

Remus bit his lip, frowning down at the ground. And, not for the first time did he wonder why James had left for Hogsmeade so abruptly. One thing, however, was for certain. Whatever had happened in the Hospital Wing with Lily had not gone well.

"Wormtail!" Sirius's incensed voice snapped Remus out of his reverie. He gazed wearily towards his two friends. "Wormtail, _what_ did I tell you about the stones?" Sirius demanded, glaring over his shoulder at Peter.

"Sorry, Sirius—"

"Both of you, quiet!" Remus hissed suddenly, eyes widening in alarm. Sirius rounded on him, looking completely beside himself, but Remus quelled him with a look. "Listen...do you hear that?"

Sirius fell silent, listening intently. Then, he frowned. "No...er—what am I supposed to be hearing?" he murmured.

"_That_," Remus gripped Sirius's shoulder tightly. "That...it—it sounds like...whispers...do you hear it, now?"

Sirius stared at him. "I think you've gone mental—"

Remus ignored him, proceeding stealthily and speedily down the pathway, towards the inexplicably distinct murmurs, leaving his two friends to trail confusedly after him. The whispers were becoming louder and louder, clearer and clearer, as he progressed further and further into the little thicket, which separated Hogsmeade Village from the little lake which Remus and his three best friends would often visit, during his monthly transformations.

"...Hogsmeade..."

"...if Dark Lord wishes for it..."

"...we would gain nothing by the attack..."

"...you are being _foolish_..."

"...Greyback is prepared to come along..."

Remus froze, convinced, for a moment, that he had misheard. Greyback. Filled to the brim with a mixture of inexplicable fury and foreboding, Remus gently pushed past several large plants, peeking over the leaves, just in time to see two heavily cloaked figures apparate away with a faint popping sound. For several moments, he simply stood there, hidden amongst the greenery, his heart pounding violently in his chest, as he struggled to understand what he had heard. Hogsmeade...the Dark Lord...foolishness..._Greyback_...

Inhaling sharply, Remus clutched desperately at his hair, his mind swirling with countless muddling thoughts.

"Remus! Remus, _where are you_?"

Remus started, jumping to his feet and rushing into the open. Sirius and Peter were waiting for him on the path, both looking supremely anxious. Upon, spotting him, Sirius immediately rushed forward, looking both furious and relieved.

"What in Merlin's name is wrong with you?" Sirius cried, smacking his friend's shoulder. Remus scowled, rubbing his arm.

"Nothing...nothing, come on, you both, let's go find James..." Remus mumbled, resolving to keep the new-found information to himself, for the time being. James was their first priority. For, after all, it was no longer safe for him—any of them—to be in the thicket any longer. This was Voldemort's territory.

"Prongs!"

Remus looked up. There was James, sitting by the lake, his knees pulled up to his chest. Remus gave a sigh of relief, as he rushed forward after Sirius and Peter.

"_Prongs_," Sirius said breathlessly, as he plunked himself down beside his best friend. "Prongs, what are you doing here?"

James remained silent, staring blankly at the lake in front of him.

"Prongs?" Sirius questioned uncertainly. "James!"

The sun was setting, Remus observed. Little tiny speckles of stars could just be seen in the darkening sky, and, suddenly, a jolt of terror gripped him. Perhaps...perhaps _they_ were still lurking around in the forest. He swallowed heavily. They had to get out of there.

"James," Remus said, gently patting his friend's shoulder. "We have to get out of here. Let's get back to school, and you can tell us what the matter is."

"No." Slowly, James turned to face him, completely impassive. "I'm staying here."

"James," Remus lowered his voice to an urgent murmur. "We _have_ to get out of here—it's not safe—I saw, back in the thicket, some of Voldemort's followers—"

"You—_what_?" Peter yelped.

Sirius gaped at Remus. "Was _that_ what the whispers were?" he croaked.

"Yes," he told them gravely. "I think—I think we ought to get out of here, in case—"

"Was it _her_?" Sirius demanded, suddenly angry. "Was it _her_? And, her stupid, pure-blood husband?"

Remus knew, at once, who Sirius was referring to. Bellatrix. The terrible cousin Remus had heard so much about. "I—I—don't know—I mean, it could've been—"

Sirius's earsplitting voice pierced the air like a siren, "_Are you here, Bella_?" He paused. "_Come on out, you filthy piece of_—!"

"Padfoot!" Remus admonished. "What the—you can't just go around shouting these things—we have to get back to the castle, _now_—"

"If you think I'm going to sit in the castle, and let that crazy wench walk freely around Hogsmeade, then—"

"Moony's right."

Remus jumped, whirling around. James was standing up, at last. His face was pale, his jaw was clenched, but he looked determined.

"What do you mean 'Moony's right'?" Sirius rounded on his best friend. "You think we should just leave _them_ be? What if they _kill_ someone, Prongs? Hogsmeade is practically right around the corner—"

"First, we get out of here," James declared, drawing his wand. "Then, we tell Dumbledore."

* * *

"Madam Pomfrey is going to kill us," Lily groaned, as she unsteadily climbed to her feet, gripping Mary's arm very tightly. "If she comes out of her office, and sees that I'm not here—"

"She won't," Mary assured her, more to get Lily to be quiet than because she actually believed it. "She's not going to suspect a thing. Besides, she's not even in her office. I reckon she's already gone down to dinner."

Lily's expression cleared. "All right. Fine."

"Good." Mary smiled at her, relieved. "Now, to Hogsmeade."

"Er—" Lily began, as she and Mary hurried down the corridor. "How exactly are we going to get there?"

Mary staggered to the stop, eyes widening, as the reality of Lily's doubt hit her. She turned to the other girl, biting her lip. "I have absolutely no clue."

"_Mary_," Lily groused.

"I—I think—Remus said something about a one-eyed witch," Mary recalled, her mind whizzing. "It's a...direct passageway, or something like that—"

"The statue of Gunhilda of Gorsemoor?" Lily asked, sounding surprised. "I know where that is. It's on the third floor, in the Defence Against the Dark Arts tower."

Mary gaped at her. "Let's go."

They hastened up three flights of stairs, before sweeping down the large foyer which connected the rest of the castle to the Defense Against the Dark Arts Tower. And, there it was. The gory-looking woman, with one eye and a ridiculously large hump. Mary wrinkled her nose.

"How is this a passageway?" Lily wanted to know, as she strolled the perimeter of the statue. "There's no door, or entrance, or—"

"Is this the right statue?" Mary asked, shrugging her shoulders. "Maybe there's another statue of a one-eyed witch..." she trailed of uncertainly, turning to Lily. The two exchanged a look. This plot to find James Potter was proving to be a much more difficult feat than they had anticipated.

"You should try 'Dissendium'...that's what those boys did."

Mary whirled around, heart pounding. A slightly squat ghost-girl, with dark, lank hair, a fringe, pimples and thick glasses was standing in front of them, watching them morosely.

"Myrtle?" Lily sounded surprised. "What are you doing out of your bathroom?"

Myrtle rounded on her, glaring fiercely, and Mary didn't blame Lily in the slightest for taking a surreptitious step backwards. "Just because I live in that bathroom doesn't mean I can't visit other parts of the castle!" she sniffed, peering at Lily reproachfully from behind her round-framed glasses.

Lily bit her lip; Mary could tell that she was working furiously not to laugh. "You're right," Lily said at last. Myrtle looked somewhat mollified. "Now—er—what were you saying before? How did the boys get through the passageway?"

"They tapped the hump and said 'Dissendium'," Myrtle shrugged her translucent shoulders, sighing heavily as she floated off.

Mary gazed after her, an amused look on her face. She turned to Lily, who giggled, as she drew her wand. Gently tapping the witch's hump, she declared, "Dissendium." Immediately, the hump melted to reveal a short slide.

Mary glanced up at Lily, gesturing to the haphazard-looking slide with a flourish of her hands. "After you."


	33. Besieged Emotions

Author's Note: This chapter was the most emotional roller coaster I have ever been on.

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

December 22, 1977

"Where does this tunnel lead, exactly?" Lily asked Mary. She was leading the way through the dark passageway, her illuminated wand held aloft.

"You say that like I know these things."

Lily shook her head in exasperation, laughing softly. Suddenly, the passageway steeped downwards, and Lily found herself stumbling headlong into a dingy-looking cellar, Mary at her heels. "What the—!" Lily exclaimed, as she spiraled into the wall, smacking her forehead upon the dirty surface. She heard Mary stifle a giggle, and she swiveled back around, rubbing her forehead and glaring at the fair-haired girl. "It's not funny, Mary!"

"Sorry," Mary said, biting her lip in an obvious attempt to conceal her laughter. "But, it really is."

Lily rolled her eyes.

"Hey," Mary said suddenly, scrutinizing several of the brown cardboard boxes which littered the ground. "Aren't those..." she crouched down beside the boxes, frowning down at the labels. "'Honeydukes' Finest'," she read, her eyes widening in realization. "Merlin, Lily, we're in Honeydukes," she breathed, glancing up at Lily with a stunned expression on her face. "We _are_ in Hogsmeade."

"Wow," Lily murmured, gaping at Mary in disbelief. "That—that's...wow." Lily blinked. "_How_ did those four figure these passageways out?" she wanted to know.

Mary shrugged, getting to her feet and dusting her hands. "Beats me." She strolled past the various boxes, towards the rickety-looking staircase in the far right corner. "Well, come on, then. Let's get up to the store."

"Wait!" Lily cried, bounding forward. "We can't just walk casually up the staircase, Mary! Somebody'll _see_ us." Lily bit her lip, her mind reeling. The memory of a silvery, fluid-like cloak flashed across her eyes, and she sighed longingly. "Let's...let's just disillusion ourselves."

Five minutes later found the two girls tiptoeing up the staircase, Disillusionment Charms cast upon them. Quickly, they tugged the cellar door open and slipped through, making their way out into the sweet shop. Lily vaguely heard the salesmen exhale in frustration, as he hurried to the back of the store to close the cellar door, mumbling furiously about how it always seemed to open on its own. She smirked.

Silently, Lily drew her wand and tapped her head, wriggling her fingers and toes as the familiar sensation of something hot trickling down his back washed over her. Mary appeared at her right, and, together, the pair walked out of the store, into the cold winter air.

Hogsmeade Village was always pleasant during the wintertime, especially now, when Christmas was practically around the corner. Lily breathed it all in, happily. She loved the wintertime. It was her favorite time of the year. And, as several small daubs of snowflakes settled upon her robes and head, Lily's lips twitched upward. Suddenly, she was filled with an inexplicable, fervent hope for the future. Perhaps...perhaps everything _would_ be all right, between herself and James.

"Lily!"

Lily's head snapped upwards. James was running towards her, his arms outstretched. For one, indistinct moment, Lily thought he was going to embrace her. Her hopes were dashed, however, when she caught sight of the anxious expression on his face. Sirius, Remus, and Peter, who were right behind him, all looked exceptionally grim. Lily's breath caught. What had happened?

"Lily," James panted, gripping her arm. Lily gave a little shiver, as his warm breath tickled the back of her neck. "Lily, how—how did you get here—?" He shook his head before she could explain. "Listen, we've _got_ to get out of here—Remus—heard—Voldemort's people—they're going to attack Hogsmeade—we've got to tell Dumbledore—"

Lily gaped at him. "What?" she asked, disbelieving.

Suddenly, Mary gave a cry of alarm, gesturing frantically towards the sky. Something green was glowing in the sky, almost hidden by the vast amount of large, gray clouds. Lily squinted. Then, her heart gave a jolt of terror.

It was a skull.

And, to her revulsion, she could just make out a long snake, protruding from the mouth of the haunted-looking skill.

The reaction was instantaneous. James swore loudly, Sirius following close behind. Remus's and Mary's faces had both drained of all color, and Peter looked as though he was about to faint. Lily's heart stopped in realization, and she drew her wand at once. This was Voldemort's mark.

In an instant, James had grabbed her wrist, weaving her through the crowded street. Lily's chest was steadily constricting. She glanced over her shoulder, and with an imperceptible sigh of relief, she found that Mary and the other three boys were still very close behind.

The rest of Hogsmeade seemed to have noticed the large, blazing mark in the sky, for men, women, and children alike were running in every plausible direction, in their haste to enter a building. Shrieks of terror split the air, and Lily felt James's grasp on her wrist tighten, as people spilled into the streets, apparating left, right, and center. Lily searched the crowd frantically. Mary had disappeared. Remus and Peter's faces seemed to flicker in front of her eyes, as crowds of people rushed in front of them.

Then, she saw _them_.

Black, billowing cloaks. Masks with snake-like eye slits. The tall, slender woman with the shining, black hair led the troop, twirling her mask around her fingers as though it were a plaything. Her dark, heavy-lidded eyes flickered through the panicking crowd with interest. And, with a flourish of her right hand, the entire group streamed into the crowed, wands drawn and sneers of loathing gracing their faces.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lily saw Sirius give a roar of fury, gray eyes flashing, as he charged towards the dark-haired woman, his wand pointed at her chest. James gave a yell of anger, shouting for Sirius to come back, but Sirius paid him no heed.

James exhaled heavily, running a hand through his disheveled black hair, as he led Lily past several stores. A jet of green light just barely missed her ear, and Lily spun around, stunning the stout, hooded man with a single spell.

They made their way around several street corners, aiming jinxes haphazardly at the groups of cloaked, masked figures. Finally, they seemed to reach the end of the road. Lily's mouth went dry. "James, this is—the end of the road—"

James ignored her, tugging her towards a small, rundown inn at the very corner of the street. The large bay windows of the building were so encrusted with filth that Lily had to squint to make out the dim light shining through them. James raised a hand, knocking sharply upon the wooden door.

"Ab!" James cried, knocking again. "Ab, it's James—it's Potter! Please—let—let us in!"

There was a split-second's pause, before the door snapped open and a large hand was roughly ushering them through the doorway. Then, the door slammed shut.

"_What_ are you two doing out of the damned school?" a voice demanded angrily.

Lily looked up, her vision swimming. Without a word, she collapsed onto a vacant bar stool, burying her spinning head in her arms. She could vaguely hear James arguing with the tall, thin, gray-haired barman. She could vaguely hear bangs and shrieks and curses being fired, from outside the small, shabby bar. The could vaguely hear the odd whooshing sensation in her ears accentuate, as she raised her head to survey the room through her darkening eyes.

Then, everything went black.

* * *

"Lily?" a gentle voice sounded by her ear. "Lily?"

Lily's eyes fluttered open. A pair of bright, hazel eyes were looming above her.

"Here, give her some of this," someone grunted, and, with a rustle, Lily felt someone tip a glass of water into her parched mouth. Slowly, she pulled herself into a sitting position, rubbing her sore eyes.

"All right, there?" a voice asked gruffly. And, Lily turned to see the gray-haired barman watching her carefully. Lily had to resist a gasp as she caught sight of a pair of very familiar startlingly blue eyes, behind his grimy spectacles.

"I'm fine," Lily managed, resting her head against the wall behind her. "I—" she cleared her throat, massaging her temples. "May I have some more water, please?" she croaked.

The barman simply grunted, shuffling to the back of his bar to fetch another glass. Lily turned to where James was sitting next to her, gazing at her intently.

"He looks like Dumbledore," Lily whispered. The shuffling from the back of the pub stopped for a moment, and Lily was sure that the old barman had heard her. She cringed.

"His brother," James murmured, his gaze flickering away from hers.

"Oh." Lily blinked. "Professor Dumbledore has a—?"

"Here's your water," the barman snapped, slamming the glass of water down on the bar's counter.

"Oh, thank you," Lily said gratefully, gulping down the water and sighing in relief as the cool liquid seeped through her weary body. The barman eyed her suspiciously, before giving a curt nod and hurrying away from the room, up the adjacent staircase.

"They had a falling-out, or something like that," James explained in a soft voice. "I don't know...Aberforth doesn't really seem to like his brother very much..."

"I see," Lily said, biting her lip. She gave a short, humorless laugh. "Sounds like my sister and me."

James glanced questioningly up at her, but Lily shook her head. "I—nothing...never mind."

James gave her a long, hard look, before turning away, once again. A charged silence fell.

"How long was I out?" Lily asked softly, after several long moments passed in quietude.

"A couple minutes, I reckon," James said shortly, still avoiding Lily's eyes. Lily nodded, swallowing heavily. Then, suddenly, James turned back to her. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "It—it's my fault that you fainted—I think the running—the shock...it was all my fault." He took a deep breath. "But, I had to bring you here, since you—you're muggle-born. It's the only place where they wouldn't find you, Lily. It doesn't matter so much if they find me—"

"Yes, it does!" Lily said fiercely, springing to her feet. "It _does_ matter if they find you, James!"

James stared at her.

"Do you honestly think that they aren't going to do anything to any seventeen-year-old boy they come across, just because he _isn't_ a muggle-born?" Lily demanded.

"No, but—"

"Your life matters just as much as mine does, James!" Lily yelled, her voice cracking slightly. Chest heaving, Lily sat back down on her bar stool, glowering at the ground. And, silence fell, once again.

Then— "Thanks, Lily," James said quietly.

Lily glanced up at him, eyes widening slightly, as she felt something stir within her. And, then, without any preamble whatsoever, she leaned forward and kissed him.

It was nothing like what she had imagined kissing him for the first time would be like: in a dilapidated, old bar; surrounded by rough, chipping, wooden tables; in the midst of a battle. But, somehow, it was perfect. Somehow, his large arms around her made her feel safe, even though they were sitting in the middle of a besieged village. And, somehow, his soft lips on hers made her feel warm and contented, even though the cold winter weather was making her shiver violently.

It was _nothing_ like how she'd ever imagined their first kiss would be. It was much, much better.

A sudden thumping of footfalls made them jerk apart. Lily felt her cheeks reddening slightly as Aberforth Dumbledore appeared at the foot of the rickety staircase, looking relieved. "It's over. They're gone. The Ministry's here. Your headmaster wants you both up at school immediately."

* * *

"Where _are_ they?" Lily asked anxiously, for the fifth time that minute.

"I—I don't know," James whispered, his face paling.

Lily's eyes flickered across the crowd, desperate for a glimpse of Mary, Remus, Sirius, or Peter. Everywhere she looked, Ministry officials were leading shaken-looking citizens through the dense crowd. Aurors, Mediwizards, and Healers were gathered in groups around the injured and dead.

Lily felt her stomach clench in aversion, as a group of somber-looking Healers carried a little girl's limp body down the street.

"There!" James pointed, relief dripping from every ounce of his pale face.

Lily looked up at once, color flooding her complexion. There they were. Remus, Sirius, and Peter, all gathered in a small huddle at the edge of the street. Sirius was sporting a nasty gash on his forehead, Remus's arm was in a sling, and Peter's entire body was trembling furiously. And, yet, they were all miraculously alive.

"Padfoot!" James cried. "Moony! Wormtail!" He rushed forward, Lily in tow.

All three boys looked up, distressed looks upon their faces. Tear tracks glittered on Peter's pale cheeks. It took Lily less than a second to realize that something was terribly, terribly wrong. She rushed forward, overtaking James.

Something awful had occurred to her.

In one, fluid motion, she pushed past Sirius, Remus, and Peter, stopping abruptly at the street's corner.

And, Lily screamed, dropping to her knees, as Mary Macdonald's lifeless face stared back up at her, the flash of the bright, green curse still frozen in her eyes.


	34. Everything That She Fought For

Author's Note: SURPRISE! Teehee. Hi, everyone. I'm back with a new chapter of this! Goodness, I've missed writing this. This mostly summarizes the aftermath of the previous chapter's tragic events. :C

OKAY, this is important. I THINK—and I am in no way positive about this—that this story might be coming to an end. I've been doing some planning for the remaining several chapters, and I do think that I'll be able to wrap this up quite soon! It's crazy, seeing as I've been working on this since...JULY 2011! Nearly a year! Wow!

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

January 28, 1978

"Lily, you've got to come downstairs."

Lily ignored the voice, simply burying her face further into her pillow, as several more tears slid down her cheeks, splattering her cotton bedclothes. It was all she had been doing for the past four weeks. Locking herself up in her private dormitory, and crying. She hadn't showed up regularly for classes or meals. She hadn't talked to Alice. She hadn't even _tried_ talking to James. The kiss they had shared, that fateful afternoon, seemed as though it had happened an eternity previous.

With a sigh and several tentative footsteps, the owner of the voice shuffled towards Lily's bed. Lily felt her mattress descend a few inches, as Alice seated herself at her bedside. "Lily..."

Lily said nothing, sniffing slightly, as she turned her head slightly to look into Alice's dark brown eyes.

Alice was the only person Lily had spared a single word for, in the preceding weeks. She alone knew how much Mary had meant to Lily. Mary and Lily had been close friends for several months before Alice had become their friend, during their first year of Hogwarts; and Alice alone knew how much Lily regretted her argument with Mary. Alice alone knew how much Lily wished it had been _herself_, and not Mary, who had died that afternoon in Hogsmeade.

"Lily," Alice said softly, reaching forward to take her friend's hand. "Lily, come downstairs. Dumbledore—he—he's giving a...memorial speech." Alice swallowed heavily. "I—Lily, you _have_ to be there," she pleaded. "You—you were best friends—"

"I was a terrible best friend to her, Alice," Lily croaked, her eyes welling with tears once again. "I was a _terrible_ one, and you know it. I—I don't deserve—I don't deserve to be there for that speech—"

"Don't say that," Alice whispered. "_Don't_. You don't know how much Mary—how much she cared about you, even when you weren't speaking—"

"It's my fault, Alice!" Lily gasped, eyes wide and hysterical, as she sat up for the first time that day. "It's—my—_my_—fault! My _fault_!" She flung her herself back down onto the bed, as the moisture in her eyes began to well up in earnest.

"What?" Alice breathed, shaking her head in wonder. "It's not your fault at all. How can you even say—?"

"She came to Hogsmeade—she came—only because she—she wanted James and I to talk to each other," Lily wailed in anguish, clutching at her red hair. "She didn't have to, Alice! She didn't have to! She did it only for _me_!"

Several long beats of silence followed, punctuated only by the occasional hiccough from Lily.

"You know she would've gone to Hogsmeade with you, no matter _what_ you'd said, right, Lily?" Alice asked quietly. "You know that she—she would've—"

"I wouldn't have let her!" Lily said fiercely. "I wouldn't have _let_ her, if I had only _known_—"

"But, you didn't _know_, Lily," Alice interrupted, squeezing Lily's hand tightly. "None of us knew! _None_ of us!"

"But—"

"_Please_, Lily," Alice begged. "Please come downstairs." She paused. "For Mary."

* * *

The Great Hall looked nothing like it usually did. The four house tables had vanished, replaced by rows and rows of benches—almost like pews in a church, Lily mused, as she trudged into the foyer after Alice. Then, the cold, harsh reality hit her. It _was_ like a church. It was a memorial. It was for a girl, Lily's age, who had passed away nearly a month previous.

It was for Mary.

With a heavy heart, Lily walked past rows and rows of wooden benches to the front of the room, where Alice had taken a seat beside Frank and the other four Gryffindor seventh-year boys. She surveyed them blankly. Remus looked unusually battered, faint scars gracing the full length of his arms and face. Peter and Sirius sat on either side of him, both uncharacteristically quiet.

Lily turned her attention to the boy on Sirius's left, her heart giving an unwilling jolt as his hazel eyes met hers. She gazed at him for a moment, and he stared back at her, with just as much intensity.

Swiftly, she turned away from him, as she felt a very slight blush creep up her cheeks. _It was ridiculous_, she thought, as she stared down at her hands. It was ridiculous, that even at such an inauspicious time, James's mere presence could make her face go red.

She chanced another glance at him, out of the corner of her eye. He was looking at the front of the room, now, his jaw clenched, his face pale. For a moment, Lily barely recognized the cheeky joker who had spent every year at Hogwarts since their fourth, courting her persistently.

Albus Dumbledore's deep, grave voice startled her out of her reverie. "...the dreadfully short life," said Dumbledore, looking around the room, his arms clasped gravely, "of a seventeen-year-old girl."

Several knowing murmurs burst out across the room, and Lily felt many eyes bore into her head. She clutched the bench tightly, her knuckles looking deathly white against the wooden timbers.

"Mary Macdonald," Dumbledore continued, over the whispers of the hall, "was the epitome of a Gryffindor student. She was courageous, she was bold, and she was noble, beyond comparison."

His eyes flickered across the room, once again, until they rested on the front row, where Lily was sitting. Her headmaster's brilliant blue eyes rested fleetingly on hers, and she saw his eyes darken with mournfulness.

He spoke, his voice firm and powerful, "Her death was no accident.

"On the twenty-second of December, three days before the start of your Christmas holidays, Mary Macdonald was murdered in Hogsmeade Village, which she had been...visiting...with several of her friends."

Whispers, this time louder and more panicked, broke out for a second time in the room. Lily closed her eyes, chin trembling.

"This murder was prompted by one wizard," Dumbledore alleged. "His name, Lord Voldemort."

This time, the students of the Great Hall—as well as several teachers—did not bother concealing their fear. Several terrified screams pierced the air, and Lily felt goosebumps crawl up her neck. She shivered involuntarily, before wrapping her arms around herself.

Dumbledore waited for the hall to grow quiet before speaking again. "On the twenty-second of December," he began again, "Lord Voldemort ordered his henchmen—whom he now calls his..._Death_ Eaters—to attack the peaceful village of Hogsmeade." He cleared his throat. "As can be seen, they conceded to his requests without complaint, and Hogsmeade Village was...to say the least, bombarded.

"Many were injured, many were killed. Ladies and gentlemen, Mary Macdonald showed, in every respect, the sort of bravery only few wizards have _ever_ shown in facing evil, and, for this, I would like you all to stand up...to show your appreciation...to honor Mary Macdonald, and everything she fought for."

There was a loud shuffling, as nearly everyone in the Great Hall rose to their feet. Lily felt her throat constrict, her eyes burn, as she too hastened to her wobbly feet, and faced the front of the room. She took a deep, shuddering breath.

Then, she saw it. Feeble at first; but, inexplicably, _there_. The flashes of fairy-like, red sparks, raining down upon her. Lily turned to her right; James's wand was held high above his head, and he was shooting them into the air, a determined expression on his face. Then, suddenly, Sirius's wand was in the air, and Peter's, and Remus's, and Alice's, and Frank's.

Lily blinked in disbelief. McGonagall, teary-eyed but smiling, raised her wand. Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick, Professor Dumbledore, _everyone_—from the first-years to a grumpy-looking Argus Filch (who, understandably, was not holding a wand)—were holding their arms, high above their head.

Finally, Lily too raised her wand, her arm shaking. And, she beamed, her eyes watering slightly, as countless brilliant red sparks misted the expanse, honoring Mary Macdonald...and _everything_ she had fought for.

* * *

"Hey…Lily?"

Lily jerked upright, blinking rapidly. She squinted slightly, inhaling sharply as a pair of wide, curious, hazel eyes came into focus. "Oh, I—sorry—I must have dozed off—"

"Don't worry about it," James chuckled slightly, gently patting her arm—consequently sending a jolt of excitement up her spine—as he sat down opposite her in the common room of their Heads' Quarters. Lily stared at him; for not having talked in more than a month, their first attempt to sort things out was turning out to be a lot more casual than she had anticipated. She an imperceptible sigh of relief.

James continued, "I just thought I'd wake you up—it's pretty late, and I thought you'd want to get up to your dorm—"

"Oh, right," Lily said quickly, rising at once. Then, she groaned. "I—_no_, I've got to do Head Patrol—"

"No, you don't." James shook his head. "Remus said he'd do them for you, since he and Allison haven't got any Prefect duties tonight."

"I—no—that's—" she stammered, eyes widening slightly. She took a deep breath. "Thanks, James."

He smiled feebly. "No problem."

Silence fell, and, with an exhausted sigh, Lily fell back into the warm, squishy armchair she'd been sleeping in, moments earlier. She curled into a tight ball, her dark red hair falling like ripples, in front of her eyes. She looked up at James, somewhat unsurprised to find that he was scrutinizing her intently. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something witty, but—

"I'm sorry, Lily."

She had not been expecting it. She raised her head, confused. "You—for what?"

James bit his lip. "For _everything_!" he blurted out. "For being an idiot, for leading you two into Hogsmeade, for pretending to date Mary, for keeping you two apart, for—for—being the—the reason she's—"

"James," breathed, shaking her head. "I—"

"It's my fault, Lily, so don't even try denying it," he said sternly. He exhaled gustily. "That day—remember? That day, before we went to Hogsmeade, I…came to visit you…in the Hospital Wing. I told you—I was sorry—I _am_ sorry," he finished, an edge of desperation making its way into his voice. "I really, really—I _am_—"

"Please, James," Lily interrupted gently. "Please—it's—it's fine." Lily rested her head against the plushy maroon sofa, breathing out softly. "If—If I know Mary Macdonald at all, I think she'd be happy…happy that she—she died, fighting evil."

James threw her a strained smile. "You're right." Then, he chortled. "And, if _I_ know Mary Macdonald, I reckon—wherever she is, now—she's probably wreaking havoc."

Lily threw her head back, laughing. "Drinking, too, don't you think?"

"Of course." James's eyes twinkled. "I reckon she's got her _own_ secret stash of Firewhiskey hidden, wherever she is."

Lily beamed at him.

Several moments passed quietly. Then— "Lily?"

"Mm-hmm?"

"You—you know I—love you, right?"

Lily's eyes latched onto him. "I—I know." Then, realizing how terrible it must have sounded, she hastily continued, "And, maybe…one day…I'll be able to say the same for you."

James raised his head, diverted; Lily climbed to her feet, stifling a yawn.

Deftly, she leaned down and brushed her lips to the top of his head, before climbing up the staircase to her dormitory. And, just as she ducked into the small, cozy bedroom, she saw—out of the corner of her eye—James's expression.

She had not seen anything so hopeful, in her entire life.


	35. A Brand New Plan

Author's Note: Hi, everyone. Alohamora080, here, with a new chapter of Pride and Prejudice. I know this is about six months late, and I have nothing to say for myself, except that I am extremely sorry for the wait, and that I hope you guys haven't given up on me.

Anyway, I couldn't have gotten this chapter up without the endless support I have received from my readers. You guys have been my sole source of motivation, and I love you all for it. I want to thank Hogwartian123 and myhorserockyrocks in particular. Their kind messages were truly inspirational, and really got me thinking hard enough to sit down and write; I dedicate this chapter to you both.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this! And I can assure you all that there will never be a gap this long between chapters again.

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ belongs to J.K. Rowling.

* * *

17 March 1978

The dying embers of the fireplace flickered golden in the otherwise dim common room. The young lady sitting by the hearth shook her choppy, brown hair out of her eyes, and glanced at the silver watch on her wrist.

Yawning and shoving her books into her bag, Alice climbed to her feet. Suddenly, an arm snuck around her waist, and Alice had to stifle a screech of alarm as a pair of warm lips met her neck. Shivering slightly in pleasure, she exhaled tiredly, leaning slowly into the embrace. "I've missed you."

"I haven't gone anywhere, Alice," Frank chirped bemusedly, resting his chin upon Alice's tawny head.

"I know," Alice breathed. "But, it feels like it's been forever since I last talked to you."

"Yeah, I see what you mean," Frank murmured. "These past few months have been brutal."

Alice sighed sadly, turning her head towards the staircase that led to the Girls' Dormitories. Somewhere upstairs, Alice knew, a redheaded girl was lying on a four-poster bed, staring motionlessly up at the ceiling, regretting decisions of her past.

Recently, Lily had taken to spending her nights in Mary's empty bed at the Seventh-Year Girls' Dormitories, rather than her personal dormitory in the Heads' Rooms. Alice was worried for her friend. Lily hadn't gotten a good night's sleep since before the terrible incident in Hogsmeade Village, three whole months previous. Dark shadows surrounded Lily's hollow green eyes, and her once-envied beauty had been reduced to the rare occasions that the remnants of a smile crossed her face.

Alice wasn't the only person worried about Lily. Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore had called Lily up to their offices on multiple occasions, to try and get her to open up. But, there wasn't much that could be done. After all, Lily's deteriorated state did not seem to be affecting her school life in any other way. She was still top of her class, and never missed a single Head Girl patrol.

Yet, Alice knew she wasn't the only one who missed the warmth that Lily had once possessed.

Frank's hold on her shoulders tightened, as Alice sniffled slightly and blinked her tears away.

"It'll be okay," Frank whispered in her ear. "Don't cry, Alice—everything will be fine—"

"Will it, though?" Alice demanded, through her tears. "I've known Lily for seven years—_seven_ _years_, Frank—and this is the first time I've seen her like this—"

"And, the last," Frank assured her. "She'll come back to normal, Alice. Just give her some…time…and space…and she'll come around."

Alice sniffed, looking still unconvinced. However, worried as she was about Lily, it was nothing compared to how she felt about James.

While Lily was still doing reasonably well in her studies and duties, James seemed to have forgotten that he was still in school. It was not uncommon to see him walk into a classroom thirty minutes into a lesson, his shaggy, black hair—which was now brushing the tips of his shoulder blades—bouncing in his eyes, as he murmured an excuse to the professor and slumped into his usual seat by Sirius.

He would disappear for days on end, he would zone out of conversations, he walk out of the Common Room with a purpose, only to walk back inside the Portrait Hole a minute later, with no idea why he'd left.

N.E.W.T.s were just three months away, and Alice was beginning to wonder whether either the Head Boy or Head Girl was going to be in a fit enough state to take them. With a deep, shuddering breath, Alice took a step back, staring deeply into Frank's bright blue eyes. "We have to do something."

* * *

Remus bit the inside of his cheek, a habit he had gained in recent weeks, as a way to vent the anxiety he felt for James.

The candle he had placed by on the little ledge by his headboard guttered slightly as Remus leaned back swiftly, heaving a sigh of weariness. Placing his books and quill on the ground next to his four poster, Remus let his eyes flutter closed.

However, the next instant, he was awake again. Only…he didn't know where he was. Darkness enveloped him, except for the little light in the corner of the room. The candle, of course. Slowly, Remus began inching his way towards the little flame, his heart beating wildly in his chest.

But every time he took a step towards the light, it moved away. His pulse now hammering through his head, Remus tore forward, desperation coursing through his veins. With one final grunt of longing, Remus threw himself towards the spot of illumination, eyes squeezing shut as he prepared for the fall that never came.

Remus blinked in confusion. Soft, beautiful music wafted through the warm, summery air. Garlands of white lilies decorated the fence and the sun's rays glimmered through the leaves of the trees.

He looked up, his breath catching in his throat. James stood in front of him, looking several years older and dressed in a set of dashing robes. He was grinning, his cheeks filled with color and his hazel eyes brighter than Remus had seen them in a long, long while. Then, Remus looked to the woman standing next to James.

He almost shouted in alarm. Dark, red hair cascaded down her white-clad shoulders. A lacy, cream-colored veil graced the top of her head. And, those eyes…those emerald eyes. So familiar, and yet so different from the hollow, orbs of green he had grown accustomed to, in the past few months.

Now, the tears were streaming freely down his own cheeks, Remus realized. And, with a shaking arm, he reached longingly towards James and Lily.

"Argh!" Remus yelled, sitting bolt right up in bed. He reached up to touch his tawny fringe, which was slightly charred from touching the still-burning flame by his headboard. Shaking his head in bewilderment, Remus looked around at the silent dormitory. Sirius lay sprawled against his pillows, his mouth wide open. Peter was snoring loudly in the adjacent bed. Only Frank's bed was empty; Remus could only suppose that he was down in the Common Room with Alice Prewett.

Suddenly, something white caught his attention. A scrap of parchment was flying towards him. Remus blinked rapidly in amazement, wondering whether he was still dreaming. But then, the little note landed in front of him, and Remus read:

_I can help you. The Three Broomsticks, tomorrow, 11 o'clock. Don't bring James._

* * *

18 March 1978

The Three Broomsticks was packed with customers, as it always was. Behind the counter, Rosmerta was working furiously to prepare the necessary drinks. Alice bit her lip nervously, craning her neck to peer at the entrance to the pub.

Frank, sitting next to her, looked rather uncomfortable. He coughed softly, turning to stare out of the window. Alice glanced at him, knowing that he would have rather not been present at this meeting.

"Frank, you don't have to help me with this," Alice said gently.

Frank smiled slightly down at her. "What sort of a boyfriend would I be if I didn't help my girlfriend get the Head Boy and Head Girl together?" He paused, frowning confusedly at his own sentence.

"A normal one, I'd reckon," Alice giggled, and Frank joined her in laughter.

Just then, the bell above the door to the pub clamored, and three boys stumbled inside. The tallest of the lot shook his black fringe out of his face. Sirius's grey eyes swept over the crowded room, finally coming to rest on Frank and Alice's corner booth. His expression cleared as he started towards them. Remus followed, fighting his way through the swarm of customers after Sirius, unwinding his scarf from his neck. Behind him, Peter waddled, his blonde hair stuck flat and unattractively to his forehead.

The three of them took a seat opposite Frank and Alice, expressions determined and curious. There was a moment's silence, before Remus cleared his throat. "So, you say you can help James."

Alice smiled fleetingly, before leaning forward to relay the details of her plan.


End file.
